Emery Arteta Downplay Handshake After Arsenal Beat Villa To Extend Lead

Arsenal eased to a 4-1 victory over Aston Villa, strengthened top spot in the Premier League, and briefly sparked questions about a missed handshake between Unai Emery and Mikel Arteta. Both managers later stressed there was no personal issue after the match at Emirates Stadium.

The result means Arsenal are guaranteed to finish 2025 as league leaders. Gabriel Magalhaes, Martin Zubimendi, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus all struck in the second half, turning a tight contest into a dominant scoreline between two sides starting the day in the top three.

The 4-1 scoreline created notable statistics. It was the biggest winning margin in a Premier League game between clubs beginning the day in the top three since Manchester City beat Arsenal 4-1 in April

2023. Arsenal also stayed five points ahead of Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.

That gap may shrink to two points when Manchester City face Sunderland on New Year's Day, while Arsenal next visit Bournemouth on Saturday. Aston Villa, now six points behind Arsenal, return to Villa Park for a home fixture against Nottingham Forest on the same day.

Villa’s loss also ended an impressive streak. It was only the fourth occasion in Premier League history that a team on a winning run of at least eight games lost by three or more goals. The previous case came when Liverpool’s 18-game run ended 3-0 against Watford in February 2020.

Emery headed straight towards the dressing room after the final whistle instead of immediately greeting Arteta. The sequence drew attention, yet Emery later outlined the routine followed. "I was waiting for him but he was with his coaches," said Emery, when asked about the incident.

Emery explained that the usual habit is to greet the opposing coach first, then speak with staff. Emery said the schedule changed when Arteta remained with assistants and Emery did not want to stay longer in the cold conditions. Emery stressed there was no personal problem and offered congratulations to Arsenal.

Arteta also downplayed the situation, described it as part of normal match emotions, and made clear there was no conflict with Emery. Arteta said: "No, thats OK. Thats part of the game and thats not an issue at all. "

Match	Score	Notable detail
Arsenal vs Aston Villa	4-1	Arsenal secure 2025 top spot
Liverpool vs Watford	0-3	Ended Liverpool's 18-game league winning run
Manchester City vs Arsenal	4-1	Previous biggest top-three margin, April 2023

My routine is to always go for first to the opponent coach, shake hands and then go inside or go to my coaches. If he's not doing the same rule, I can't wait. I don't know what happened. There's no issue for me, but I can't wait. Maybe it's because it was cold? I'm still happy, even losing today, so congratulations to Arsenal.

The Boss' thoughts following #ARSAVL. pic.twitter.com/PpFQVKeKYuAston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 30, 2025

The win over Aston Villa keeps Arsenal in control of the title race as 2026 approaches, while Villa’s heavy defeat halts valuable momentum. Despite the post-match handshake discussion, both Emery and Arteta described their relationship as professional, leaving the focus on performance and upcoming fixtures.