Tottenham star apologises for 'diver' comment against Arsenal, explains frustrations

Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison got into a number of spats during his side's 2-0 loss to Arsenal in the North London Derby on Sunday. The Brazilian was a second-half substitute, and endured a frustrating time as the Gunners were resolute in defending their first-half lead.

The former Everton star got into arguments with compatriots Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes during the game. Richarlison labelled the former a diver after the Arsenal star went down from a foul, which the Spurs forward thought was an over the top reaction.

The Brazil international refused to shake his national teammate's hand, but has since apologised for calling him a diver. He explained that it happened in the heat of the moment before going into detail about his spat with Magalhaes in the final minutes.

"It was a foul there that the referee ended up giving, we were close to the move, in my opinion it wasn't, I told him he was diving a lot, so I didn't shake his hand," Richarlison said about his exchange with Martinelli, as quoted by The Sun.

"I'm apologising to him. Like it or not, he's my team-mate. It's part of the game, it's a derby, we were hot headed."

On his exchange with Magalhaes, there was no apology needed as he simply urged the Arsenal defender to get on with the game. The centre-back was booked for excessive time wasting in the final minutes, and Richarlison felt the Arsenal players were ensuring the game had no flow.

"With Gabriel [Magalhaes], we argued a little because I wanted to get on with the game," he added. "He ended up getting yellow, and I said to him, 'let's play, let's play'. I told him they were stopping play all the time, it's part of the game."

However, Richarlison's arguments with his compatriots were minimal compared to his fight with Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. The Brazilian got physical with the Gunners stopper after the final whistle as he celebrated the win in front of the home fans.

While the Spurs forward regretted his action towards Martinelli, he had no such feelings for Ramsdale. He slammed the England international for his actions, and showed no sympathy despite the Arsenal star being attacked by a fan as he retrieved his water bottle from behind the goal.

"What I really didn't like was their goalkeeper going to celebrate in front of our fans," Richarlison said. "It's kind of disrespectful to our fans, he has their fans, he has to go celebrate with their fans, not be cute with our fans."