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Richard Keys has renewed his attacks on Mikel Arteta by bizarrely blaming the Arsenal boss for the incident that saw Aaron Ramsdale kicked by a Tottenham fan at the end of Sunday’s North London derby.
Ramsdale had been picking up his water bottle after the final whistle had blown when the supporter climbed onto the advertising hoardings and kicked the Arsenal keeper in the back. The fan quickly climbed back into the stands before any stewards could detain him as players from both teams rushed over.
Ramsdale was led away by a member of Arsenal’s security staff, before Arteta also pushed him towards their team’s jubilant fans. Arteta then dragged Granit Xhaka away from the incident as he convinced his players to celebrate in front of Gunners supporters in the away end.
Despite Arteta appearing to play peacemaker though, Keys still took aim at the Arsenal boss. The beIN Sports presenter criticised both Arteta and Ramsdale for their renowned antics in winding up opposition fans.
“Ramsdale’s got form for winding supporters up and apparently has been having an exchange during the course of that second-half with those Tottenham fans. Ben White as well who was over there,” he said.
“You know, 2-0 to Arsenal, you know, that. My fear is and I’ve said it for a long time now, that the guy in the middle there [Arteta] is the one that’s most to blame for the inflammatory behaviour on the touchline.
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(
Sky Sports)
“And if he’s not behaving himself, then it’s likely that others in his team are not going to either. Who ultimately then becomes the master of discipline? That isn’t anyone.”
This is far from the first time that Keys has taken aim at Arteta, with the presenter frequently lambasting the Spaniard for his animated displays on the touchline.
After the game, Arteta attempted to keep the focus on his team’s impressive performance, rather than discussing what had happened between Ramsdale and the supporter.
“I haven’t watched it. I watched a great game of football and that’s what I want to talk about. I loved the way we played and the courage we showed to come here and play,” he told Sky Sports.
“Doing our job we can make a lot of people happy and i’m sure we’ve made Arsenal fans very happy. Everything we ask they are so willing to try and do. They are a terrific group of players.
“I think today we went another step. We won last season in big stadiums, but the way we won today was really pleasing to watch. It shows not only determination and courage but you have to have the belief and quality to do it against this team.
“That is absolutely down to the players. We were really aggressive. We were really intense against the high press. We won so many balls and duels. They created some openings, they are a dangerous team, but we did a lot of good work today.”