Matteo Guendouzi escapes punishment over Neal Maupay grab during Arsenal’s defeat by Brighton

Midfielder appeared to grab the Brighton match-winner by the throat as emotions boiled over at the end of Saturday’s Premier League encounter

Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi will not face any disciplinary action despite appearing to grab Brighton and Hove Albion striker Neale Maupay by the neck as the incident was reviewed by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

The 21-year-old lost his cool following a heated match and clashed with Maupay shortly after the Brighton striker scored the winning goal in the 2-1 victory deep into stoppage time. Having gone ahead through Nicolas Pepe’s second-half effort, Arsenal were pegged back by Brighton captain Lewis Dunk, laying the platform for Maupay’s dramatic winner the consigned Mikel Arteta’s side to a second straight defeat since the Premier League resumed.

The post-match incident appeared to stem from an earlier collision between Maupay and Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno, with the Germany international forced off the field on a stretcher with what appeared to be a bad knee injury.

Leno reacted to Maupay’s attempted apology by aggressively confronting him as he was taken from the field, and Guendouzi appeared to continue that by grabbing Maupay shortly after in an off-the-ball clash that was not seen by the referee Martin Atkinson.

The two then collided again after the final whistle, but although video footage clearly showed Guendouzi grabbing Maupay around his neck, Guendouzi escaped any immediate sanction from Atkinson, who seemed to miss the incident.

The Football Association said that Atkinson confirmed this in his referee’s match report, but it was referred to the VAR who decided that it did not require any disciplinary action. As a result, the FA were unable to apply any retrospective action.

A statement from the Football Association read on Monday: “Matteo Guendouzi’s conduct during this incident was not seen by the match officials at the time, but it was subsequently reviewed by the VAR, so he will face no further action.”

The FA has issued a warning to both Brighton and Arsenal and reminded them of their responsibilities to control their players, with the incident between Guendouzi and Maupay involving several other players.

Despite escaping any punishment, Guendouzi did still receive a ticking off from Arteta, who told the young French midfielder that he has to learn how to control his emotions in future scenarios.

"When we show frustration we have to show it in the right way," Arteta said.

"I haven't seen the images (of Guendouzi) or what happened, but we will talk about it if that is the case. Emotionally, we have to control the situations much better."