Gabriel Magalhaes didn't waste a perfect chance to hit back at Ivan Toney after Arsenal's 3-0 win at Brentford on Sunday afternoon.
Goals from William Saliba, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira helped the Gunners complete a routine win on the road to return to the top of the Premier League table. Mikel Arteta's side have moved one point clear of Manchester City and Tottenham in the title race.
A lot of the talk before Sunday afternoon's game was Toney's infamous tweet he published after Brentford's 2-0 home win against Arsenal in August 2021. "Nice kick about with the boys," wrote Toney within hours of the win, angering Arteta.
The Arsenal manager used Toney's tweet to motivate his players ahead of the return game at the Emirates in February. The public got the chance to see Arteta's team talk when Amazon's 'All or Nothing: Arsenal' documentary was released in the summer.
"Before I go, because it’s still in my stomach and I have managed to keep it for four months, five months, six months," Arteta told his players before the game. "This is Toney after the game when we played at Brentford. You know what he did? You know his tweet?
"Nice kick about with the boys. So today they play in our house, guys there is only one team on that f****** pitch – and it’s us! Only one team, it’s like they don’t play football. We take that f****** ball, we take the game, we go for it and let’s f****** win this game!"
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Arsenal went on to win that game 2-1 and inflicted more revenge on Toney and Brentford after Sunday afternoon's triumph. Gabriel took to Twitter at full time and simply wrote: "Nice kick about with the boys."
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Arsenal stand-in skipper Granit Xhaka said: "We have a different mentality this season. we kept going and are training like we play and have class with the players that can make a difference. You have the class in the front and they make the difference. More than happy we are in a good way but a long way to go."
Brentford's Ben Mee said: "We never got going. It's difficult to put your finger on it. It's the first time that has happened to us this season. They kept the ball well and came back at us. It's tough.
"They were motivated to come here and get one back on us after last season. There are always things we can work on. We will see what we can do better. It's been a positive start to season and we will build on it."
Brentford manager Thomas Frank noted: "We lost 3-0, to the number one in the Premier League. I said before they are a top side. I think we performed quite well, not 10/10 but if you want to win or get something out of the team flying, you cannot concede the first from a set piece and then the second one."
Frank added: "We lost the game, I hate losing. They are top of the table so you cannot argue with that, they have done brilliant. Looking at the quality, they must be title contenders."
