Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko involved in furious bust-up after Forest win

Callum Boyle

Declan Rice had to hold the two back

Arsenal full-backs Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko appeared to be caught up in a furious exchange after the full-time whistle on Tuesday.

The Gunners secured a vital 2-1 win away at Nottingham Forest after Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka got on the scoresheet to keep them within touching distance of Liverpool.

Taiwo Awoniyi scored late on for the hosts to make it a nervy ending however Mikel Arteta’s side were able to weather the storm and hold out for the three points.

After the game though there appeared to be an angry exchange of words between White and Zinchenko, with Sky Sports reporting that the pair were angry about the goal they had conceded.

Footage from the VAR review showed that Zinchenko had kept the Forest forward onside as he was a yard or so behind the rest of his defensive line.

Declan Rice stepped in to separate the two while Arteta praised the attitudes of his defenders.

“That’s pushing each other” 💪

Mikel Arteta explains the post-match feud between Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ben White…

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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 30, 2024

He told TNT Sports: “I love it, they demand more from each other and they are not happy with the way they concede that and they are trying to resolve it.

“It was a bit heated, but that means it is not enough playing the way we played, the result has to be bigger.

“That’s pushing each other and being not happy conceding and I have to encourage that and promote it in the right way and a respectful way.

“Sometimes after the game, it’s emotional and heated but I love that the players are pushing each other and demanding excellence.

“We wanted to generate some momentum in the league and I thought we did that. The performance was very good, we completely dominated the game.

“We had to be patient but we always had an eye to the opponent, we didn’t allow them to run. We generated chances in a number of ways. I think we showed a lot of maturity to deal with the game in the way we had to.”

Arsenal’s next challenge that awaits them is a potential top of the league clash against Liverpool, which could have a huge say in where the title ends up at the end of the season.

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