“You cheating scumbag” - Manchester United star Harry Maguire’s alleged message to Arsenal star before brawl in FA Cup clash comes to light

Harry Maguire was reportedly furious with Kai Havertz after the Arsenal star dived to win a penalty for Manchester United. The Red Devils' defender called the German a "scumbag", and that started the brawl between the sets of players.

Arsenal were being held 1-1 by 10-man Manchester United when Havertz went down inside the box despite having no contact with Maguire. The German's actions saw the Gunners get a penalty after referee Andy Madley deemed there was enough for him to go down.

The Daily Mirror is now reporting that Maguire shouted "You cheating scumbag" at Havertz. That sparked a brawl between the players, which saw Manuel Ugarte shoving the former Chelsea man to the ground.

Former Manchester City defender Micah Richards was on BBC when the incident happened, and he hit out at the referee for falling for Havertz's antics. He said:

“It is not a penalty, at all. A really bad decision. It is not enough for a penalty.”

Arsenal ended up losing on penalties to Manchester United after the two sides drew 1-1 after extra time. Kai Havertz had his penalty saved by Altay Bayindir, who also saved a penalty from Martin Odegaard in normal time.

Mikel Arteta on Arsenal's performance in Manchester United loss

Mikel Arteta admitted his surprise at Arsenal not making it to the 4th Round after their shock exit to Manchester United. He claimed his side deserved to win the match and added that he was proud of his players. He said:

"Incredible how we didn’t win the game, that’s basically to sum up, the dominance, the superiority in relation to the opposition and everything we did to try to win the game and that’s it, we didn’t get what we deserve clearly, but there is an element about putting the ball in the back of the net, we did it once, with the amount of situations, chances, penalties that we had, we didn’t. We go home extremely sad but I cannot be prouder of my players, the team, individually, collectively what they have produced, on Wednesday night against Newcastle, against two top teams, it’s incredible. We haven’t got rewarded and that’s the downside to it."

When asked about picking up Kai Havertz and other players, he said:

"To him and to all of them, that I love them, that we all love them individually and as a team they are a joy. What this team produces every three days is incredible regardless of what happens. And I'm not going to lose sight of that because of our results or for two because we didn't deserve those results. What can we do better. Let's try to do it. It's very difficult to achieve. It's an emotional part. It's something related to confidence as well. But it’s very difficult to ask something else from our players."

Arsenal are up against Tottenham next in the Premier League before taking on Aston Villa.