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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Rich Jones

What sparked ugly post-match brawl between Arsenal and Valencia in Europa League

Former Arsenal player Gabriel Paulista was at the centre of a post-match brawl immediately after his Valencia side were downed 4-2 by the Gunners on Thursday night.

A Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hat-trick fired the Gunners to a convincing 7-3 aggregate win at the Mestalla - but both sets of players clashed after the final whistle.

Tempers initially flared when Alexandre Lacazette was kicked off the ball by Ferran Torres and Jose Gaya went to back-up his Valencia team-mate.

It led to Ainsley Maitland-Niles stepping in, only to be twice pushed in the chest by a furious Gabriel before having to be dragged away by Ezequiel Garay and Sead Kolasinac before Laurent Koscielny arrived on the scene to diffuse the situation.

Gabriel and Ainsley Maitland-Niles clashed at full-time in Valencia (REUTERS)

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It was a night to forget for Gabriel as he was unable to get the better of his former team, who will now head to Baku for the Europa League final against Chelsea on May 29.

Before the tie, Gabriel revealed he felt he was never given a fair chance to prove himself at the Emirates and accused people of "talking s***" about him.

Chaos broke out at full-time with a brawl between players (BT Sport)

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He told the Independent: “In the Premier League, I tried to prove my worth but I didn't get the chances. When I played, it was often because of an injury to my team-mates. I deserved more opportunities.

Gabriel was calmed down by former team-mate Laurent Koscielny (BT Sport)

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“I was sad because I knew I had the ability to play but other people didn't think so.

“I’m not the type of player who is affected too much by being talked about. I didn't listen to people who talked s*** about me in England, but I don't think anybody expected me to do the job I'm doing (at Valencia).”

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