THIS WAS the awkward moment that Richarlison REFUSED to shake his Brazilian team-mate Gabriel Martinelli’s hand in the fiery North London derby.
The two stars were in the same squad last month before their World Cup dreams were ended by Croatia.
However, they were on opposite sides yesterday as Arsenal clinched a 2-0 win at Tottenham to move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Midway through the match, substitute Richarlison was warming up near the corner flag when his compatriot went over to take a set-piece nearby.
Spotting the forward next to him, Martinelli offered out his hand for Richarlison to shake – but the former Everton man point-blank refused, leading to cheers from supporters nearby.
Meanwhile, an eagle-eyed fan also spotted an off-field spat between Richarlison and Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu on the touchline earlier in the game.
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Tomiyasu put his arm across Richarlison, who then angrily pulled it away, as the pair warmed-up ready for action.
Despite not starting, it was a busy afternoon for the Spurs sub, who got on towards the end of the clash.
Aaron Ramsdale, who was sickeningly kicked by a Spurs fan, bickered with opponent Richarlison at the end of the game and the forward angrily pushed the keeper in the side of the head.
As a steward led the England international away to the edge of the pitch, a supporter climbed over the barricade in the Tottenham section and kicked the shot-stopper.
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The trouble started brewing when Ramsdale turned to celebrate towards the fans that had been giving him stick after the final whistle.
Richarlison then went over to the keeper before his temper got the better of him and he started pushing him in the head.
Ramsdale marches away and goes to grab his water bottle from behind the goal, but as he is bent over, the fan swoops in to attack.
Missed by stewards, the idiot steps over the hoarding and kicks out at the goalie.
A steward then pushes the spectator away before the culprit scurries back up into the stand and the crowd while trying to cover his face with a scarf.
Players from both sides then ran over to try and diffuse the tense situation, although several squared up to one another.
Richarlison would later slam Ramsdale as “disrespectful”, saying: “What I really didn’t like was their goalkeeper going to celebrate in front of our fans.
“It’s kind of disrespectful to our fans, he has their fans, he has to go celebrate with their fans, not be cute with our fans.”
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And on the incident with Martinelli, he added: “It was a foul there that the referee ended up giving, we were close to the move, in my opinion it wasn’t, I told him he was diving a lot, so I didn’t shake his hand.
“I’m apologising to him. Like it or not, he’s my team-mate. It’s part of the game, it’s a derby, we were hot headed.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
