Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg will 'deal with' Mesut Ozil after angry reaction to substitution

Freddie Ljungberg has vowed to "deal with" Mesut Ozil after the Arsenal midfielder reacted angrily to being substituted during Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.

A first-half masterclass from Kevin De Bruyne inspired City to a comfortable victory at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

Pep Guardiola's side moved to within four points of Leicester as the reigning Premier League champions bounced back from a derby day defeat to Manchester United last weekend to coast to an easy victory.

De Bruyne struck after just 89 seconds before teeing up Raheem Sterling and adding the third himself as he moves on to four goals across his last five City appearances.

Arsenal, whose best chance came before De Bruyne's first effort, were second best for the majority of the contest and have now won just one of their last 12 matches in all competitions.

Ozil started the game despite the fallout from his social media comments regarding the treatment of Uighur Muslims in the western province of Xinjiang, China. Chinese state broadcasters CCTV pulled the match from its schedule in response to Ozil's criticism.

Back on the pitch, Ozil struggled to have an impact and was substituted after just 58 minutes. A number of Arsenal fans appeared to be telling the German to hurry off the field, but Ozil trudged off before taking off his gloves and kicking them up in the air in frustration.

After the game, Ljungberg told Sky Sports: "For me I took Mesut off because I wanted some more energy in the team.

"I thought Emile [Smith Rowe] did really well when he came in.

"How he reacts is up to him and I'll deal with it.

"We'll see what it means for the future but of course we want players to behave the right way."

Additional reporting by PA.

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