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Mikel Arteta's behaviour in Fleetwood tunnel shows he's not like mentor Pep Guardiola

Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor has revealed what Mikel Arteta did after Arsenal's shock defeat

Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta has been praised for his conduct after Arsenal's defeat to Fleetwood(Image: Getty Images)

Mikel Arteta took Arsenal's shock Carabao Cup loss with more grace than one of the worst defeats of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City career. League Two Fleetwood stunned Premier League champions, who had Max Dowman sent off late on, on penalties to advance to the quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw.

Bruno Guimaraes saw his spot-kick saved by Jay Lynch before Fleetwood's Conor Haughey lashed home to spark a pitch invasion as the Cod Army produced one of the greatest upsets in the competition's history.

While Arteta isn't universally popular with rival clubs and fans, he showed his class in the aftermath of the defeat, with victorious Fleetwood boss Matt Lawlor hailing the Spaniard's sportsmanship.

He said: "He shook my hand two or three times and he was really, really gracious. I can imagine it's a really disappointing night for him.

"But the way that he acted there, with class, is amazing. I would love to catch up with him and pick his brains, but he's been really busy with media and all the emotions that come with it.

"We've not managed to cross paths, but he said well done in the tunnel briefly and how well we did, which is obviously a show of class from him."

It was a far cry from his mentor's conduct during City's FA Cup defeat to League One Wigan in 2018, when Arteta was part of Guardiola's coaching team. Following Fabian Delph's red card just before half-time, tensions boiled over, with Guardiola and Wigan boss Paul Cook clashing on the touchline.

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The ruckus spilt into the tunnel area, where, helpfully, the BBC had placed a camera that showed the managers yelling at each other and needing to be restrained by staff. Wigan won 1-0 thanks to Will Grigg's early goal.

It's worth pointing out that this wasn't common behaviour from Guardiola following a defeat, which he generally accepted with good grace. But it was a notable difference from Arteta's magnanimous reaction to the Fleetwood loss.

Pep Guardiola's spat with Paul Cook was caught on camera

Pep Guardiola's spat with Paul Cook was caught on camera(Image: BBC)

The Gunners boss, who had named a strong team, said: "That is why football is entertainment, especially in this competition and in this country, things like that.

"They believe in it and the people have it because of the history. We didn't want to go through this and we are extremely sad but we need to congratulate the opponent."

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