Jack Grealish and Emiliano Martinez were involved in a heated argument as they walked through the tunnel in Man City's clash with Aston Villa.
With City in their worst ever form under Pep Guardiola, the champions went into Saturday's battle looking to get back to winning ways.
In an attempt to shake things up, Guardiola made several changes to the team that suffered in last week's Manchester derby, including a first start at Villa Park for Grealish since leaving his boyhood club in 2021.
Villa took the initiative from kick-off and after already going close, Jhon Duran put the hosts ahead after just 16 minutes.
As the match reached the halfway point, Grealish appeared to protest the lack of stoppage time in the first half.
As both teams left the field, the England international was seen exchanging words with his former teammate Martinez.
Erling Haaland played peacemaker, getting between the two men as they remained animated on their way off the field.
The conversation continued in the tunnel and the Argentine was subsequently shown a yellow card by referee Peter Bankes for his involvement in the incident.
City's afternoon went from bad to worse after the restart when Morgan Rogers doubled Villa's lead with a well-taken finish from the penalty area.
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