New Arsenal signing Piero Hincapie clashed with Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister during the World Cup qualifying match between Ecuador and Argentina.
Hincapie, who joined Arsenal initially on a season-long loan deal from Bayer Leverkusen on transfer Deadline Day, lined up at left-back and helped Ecuador keep their fifth consecutive clean sheet in qualification.
The defender played the entire 90 minutes, making three clearances, two interceptions and tackles, winning all but one of his three aerial duels and winning half of the four ground duels he contested.
One of those successful ground duels was against Argentina and Real Madrid wonderkid Franco Mastantuono as Hincapie timed his tackle on the attacking midfielder in the box to perfection.
However, Mac Allister took issue with the Gunners’ newboy afterwards.
It would appear that the Liverpool midfielder did not take kindly to Hincapie standing over Mastantuono following the tackle and squared up to the defender, wagging his finger while shouting in his face.
Tempers threatened to boil over at the final whistle as Hincapie was seen pleading his case to Rodrigo De Paul before being pushed away by former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Hincapie VS Macallister in the Ecuador VS Argentina matchpic.twitter.com/ZMa4Ey1i80
— Doc (@karthikadhaigal) September 10, 2025
While Ecuador and reigning champions Argentina had already qualified for the World Cup, there was no shortage of intensity in their match in Guayaquil.
Argentina's Nicolas Otamendi was sent off in the 31st minute and the hosts capitalised on their numerical advantage when Enner Valencia scored a penalty in first-half stoppage time.
Ecuador were also reduced to 10 men when Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo was dismissed in the 50th minute, but they held firm to claim victory and go second in the table.
Despite the loss, Argentina retained top spot in the standings with 39 points, nine ahead of Ecuador.
Additional reporting by Reuters.
