Pep Guardiola coy on Kyle Walker bust-up with Arsenal coach
Kyle Walker of Manchester City applauds fans
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Pep Guardiola refused to discuss the incident between Kyle Walker and Arsenal set-piece coach Nicolas Jover after Manchester City’s 1-0 loss to the north London side.
Following City’s second consecutive Premier League loss for the first time since 2018, the defender was involved in a confrontation with Jover, who previously worked for City.
In the footage, it appeared that Jover held out his hand to Walker, who declined the handshake. It is unclear whether words were exchanged in the interim, but an agitated Walker threw his hands up before turning around to talk to the coach.
Walker squared up to Jover before teammate Erling Haaland joined them. Multiple members of staff and players from the two teams got involved to try and diffuse the situation.
“I know what happened, but I don’t want to say anything, They [Arsenal] know it,” Guardiola said.
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Bukayo Saka was also seen leading Jover away, while Walker’s emotions didn’t appear to subside as he was led down the tunnel by teammates while still engaging in a heated conversation.
Gabriel Martinelli’s goal in the 86th minute of the match at The Emirates gave the home side the narrow victory that moved the unbeaten Arsenal into the second place in the table.
In addition to last week’s 2-1 loss to Wolves, City move to third. While Guardiola didn’t shed much light on the incident with Walker, he spoke about what City need to do to put themselves back to winning ways.
“No team has ever won four in a row,” he said. “Defeats can happen, but we are in October. Sometimes it is good going behind. It is not the first time going behind for the contenders. Last season we were much, much behind, but the season is long. It has happened.
“In Wolves, it was a difficult game. Congratulations to Arsenal. We know exactly what we have to do and we do it. We recover people coming back and try to break immediately as soon as possible against tough opponents like Brighton and United.”
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