Brighton manager Hurzeler called on the Premier League to alter the rules to prevent time-wasting and asserted he would never instruct his players to adopt such tactics. Hurzeler fumed: “I will never be the manager who tries to play that way. The Premier League needs a rule…You need rules…You need a limit. There was only one team that tried to win the game. I ask you one question: ‘did you see a goalkeeper go down three times to get treatment?’ I do not want to waste my time talking about it.

“If you ask everyone here in this room did they enjoy this game, maybe one raises their hand, because he’s a big Arsenal fan. If they win the Premier League, they won’t care how… and you can see they do everything to win the Premier League.”

However, Arteta retorted when questioned about Hurzeler’s comments, smiling: “What a surprise.”

When probed to elaborate on his statement, Arteta responded: “You just go back to the previous games and you’ll find a lot of comments like this always. I love my players. That’s the highlight. I love my players, we love our players and I love the way we compete.”

Arteta praised his players and their determination whilst Saka found the net on his 300th Arsenal appearance to hand the Gunners a significant boost in the title race.

Arteta added: “It’s incredible what he’s doing…It’s a pleasure to have him! Unbelievable numbers at his age to produce the amount of games.

“To do it in the manner that he’s done it and the stats that he’s got related to those games. It’s just incredible. So, a big night for him.”

Arteta also disclosed that he only learned City had surrendered points in their 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest after approaching the away end to celebrate with the Arsenal supporters.

He added: “When I was walking to our supporters, because I saw a reaction and I said, what happened? But it was something a little bit strange.

“From the first minute, I just mentioned it. The energy that they brought, the passion, the positivity to the team. It was amazing. Many moments we thought that we were playing very close with them and that’s very helpful.”