Arsenal boss Unai Emery was confronted by an angry Troy Deeney after the Watford striker saw red early on against the Gunners.
Deeney was sent off for an elbow on Lucas Torreira early on and voiced his displeasure to the Arsenal bench as he made his way off the pitch.
The frontman was seen approaching Emery and members of his staff signalling he made contact with his forearm rather than his elbow and downplaying the incident.
But Emery insists he paid no attention to Deeney and simply informed him he had not had a clear view of the incident.
What Troy Deeney told Unai Emery after red card following Lucas Torreira clash
"I didn’t listen to him," Emery revealed. "He said something - it doesn’t matter what, it's not important - but I said to him 'I didn’t see it'.
"I didn’t see the red card. I respect the decision from the referee. It’s clear it helped us with the decision."
“Playing with one less player is more difficult. But our goal gives us the advantage in the result."
Emery's side struggled to put Watford away but held on for a 1-0 win courtesy of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's early goal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang fires warning to Mohamed Salah after Arsenal win
Emery admitted he did not get the result he had hoped from his tactical changes - but he was pleased with the final outcomes as they emerged with three vital points in the top four race.
“We didn’t do all we wanted to do. We can be happy with the result. To win here is very important.
"I didn’t do these decisions to get all the control I want. I changed to a 4-2-3-1 with Ainsley.
“The anxiety in our team was also because in the second half they can take some moments to score. We worked well on set pieces and second actions.”
