Pep Guardiola gave Jack Grealish a public dressing down moments before keeping Erling Haaland and Gabriel apart.
Manchester City could not claim all three points in a bore 0-0 draw against Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday and Guardiola had some choice words for his players on the pitch at full-time.
That included Grealish, who was brought on from the bench in the second half but made very little impact as Arsenal defended brilliantly.
And at full-time, Guardiola found the England international on the pitch and was engaged in a very animated conversation with the winger, who appeared to agree with his coach.
It is not the first time that the City boss has delivered such speeches to his players after a match and Jeremy Doku also had his ear bent moments before.
However, this animated chat stretched on for a few couple of minutes while Grealish looked locked in and listened.
But there was further drama as moments later, Guardiola had to keep the peace as Haaland and Gabriel looked set to clash with one another.
The two had been nibbling at each other all game and Guardiola kept the Brazilian at bay as they exchanged unpleasantries.
However, both Haaland and Gabriel made up in the end with a handshake and a hug with the two nullifying each other on the pitch.
Asked what he said to Grealish at full-time by talkSPORT, Guardiola was keen to play the incident down, simply replying that the £100m midfielder played really well.
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Grealish similarly did not acknowledge the heated conversation when posting on social media afterwards. He wrote: “So good to be back and playing again in front of our fans. Now for a strong end to the season.”
With both sides looking to land a telling punch in the title race, neither side could truly break down the other.
In truth, neither goalkeeper was tested too much with both defences well on top – as Guardiola and Mikel Arteta named four central defenders each in their backlines.
The draw has kept Liverpool at the top of the table, who leapfrogged Arsenal earlier in the day after coming from behind to beat Brighton at Anfield.
Three points separate the top three – with City sitting third after failing to beat Arsenal at home.
Both sides have had to contend with key injuries, with Ederson and Kyle Walker missing for the hosts while Nathan Ake went off injured.
City play Real Madrid in two weeks in the Champions League while Arsenal lost Bukayo Saka late into the contest.
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