Rodrigo Bentancur's furious reaction speaks volumes about Tottenham players' view on Arsenal

Rodrigo Bentancur could not hide his anger as he was substituted in Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday night.

The Uruguayan midfielder was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski just minutes after Kevin De Bruyne had set up Erling Haaland to fire City ahead at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to put Pep Guardiola's side on the brink of a fourth consecutive Premier League title.

But after being withdrawn by manager Ange Postecoglou when Spurs needed to win the game to keep alive their hopes of pipping Aston Villa to the fourth and final Champions League spot, Bentancur failed to keep a lid on his emotions as he kicked the seats on the substitutes' bench repeatedly before throwing his water bottle to the ground in rage.

"Bentancur unimpressed one way or another, with the state of the game or the decision to withdraw him," said Sky Sports commentator Peter Drury. "That is one angry man." Meanwhile, Jamie Carragher added: "Listen, he's done well!"

The build-up to Tuesday's game had been spent speculating whether or not Tottenham's players would have any incentive to try and beat Manchester City as doing so would put bitter North London rivals Arsenal in pole position to win the Premier League title this weekend.

However, speaking in his pre-match press conference, Postecoglou insisted it would be business as usual for his side, who still had ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League.

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"I understand rivalry. I was part of one of the biggest ones in the world in the last couple of years with Celtic and Rangers," said the Spurs manager on Monday.

"But I've never, and will never, understand if someone wants their own team to lose. That's not what sport is about. It's not what I love about the game."

Indeed, Bentancur's reaction to being substituted at 1-0 down and with so much of the game remaining shows that Spurs' players clearly felt the same way as their manager and that Arsenal were not on their minds.