Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi has avoided a three-game ban following an incident involving Brighton and Hove Albion forward Neal Maupay.
During the 2-1 loss at the Amex Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Guendouzi had a relentless battle with the Seagulls ace, angered by the coming together between the striker and Gunners keeper Bernd Leno which saw the latter stretchered off.
At the final whistle, Guendouzi appeared to grab Maupay around the neck and shoved him to the ground, in an incident that was expected to land him in hot water with the FA.
However, Guendouzi will not face any punishment as referee Martin Atkinson confirmed in his report, that the incident was referred to the VAR who decided that it did not require any disciplinary action and therefore the FA can't take any retrospective action.
"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," a statement from the Football Association reads.
Amid a disastrous return to Premier League action, this is at least some good news for Gunners head coach Mikel Arteta.
The Spaniard was facing the possibility of travelling to St Mary's without as many as nine first-team players had Guendouzi been punished by the FA.
Although Bernd Leno, Pablo Mari, Sokratis, Cedric, Calum Chambers and Granit Xhaka are unavailable because of injury, Lucas Torreira lacks match sharpness and David Luiz is suspended.
With that said, Arteta has urged his squad to control their emotions in the future.
"When we show frustration we have to show it in the right way," he 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."
