Five Haaland housery moments prove Man City talisman, not Arsenal was the Etihad’s ‘dark arts’ master
Man City’s stars were frustrated as Arsenal delved into the “dark arts”, but these five moments prove Erling Haaland was the real sh*house at the Etihad…
What an utterly bonkers game of football that was at the Etihad. Recent meetings between the two best sides in the Premier League were clouded by too much respect being shown between Mikel Arteta, Pep Guardiola and their respective players.
However, respect was left at the door on Sunday afternoon as tempers flared from the opening whistle to way beyond John Stones’ 98th-minute equaliser. This made for an electrifying game of football as the tactical brilliance of two of the best coaches in the world was mixed in with genuine animosity between the opposing players.
Leandro Trossard’s red card – which was definitely deserved – made it a classic game of two halves and Arsenal used every trick in the book to wind down the clock and frustrate Man City en route to a priceless victory. This was working a treat until Stones saved Guardiola’s blushes deep into stoppage time.
Man City’s stars have been salty in the aftermath of this game and one even went as far as to refer to Arsenal as “dirty”.
This has been done despite it being as clear as day that Erling Haaland, not Arsenal was the real sh*house of the day and the game’s actual “master of the dark arts”. Here are five incidents which prove this sentiment and the best is saved until last…
Smashing into William Saliba
Arsenal got the better of Man City on the pitch last season as Arteta’s side picked up four points against their rivals.
A significant factor behind their success in these games has been the brilliance of centre-back pair Saliba and Gabriel, who nullified the threat of an ineffective Haaland superbly.
After Inter Milan exposed Haaland’s flaws in midweek, the Man City striker may have felt he went into Sunday’s match with a point to prove and was certainly pumped up.
A couple of minutes after Rodri tried to get Kai Havertz sent off, Haaland charged into Saliba as he called upon a tactic used by old-fashioned strikers of yesteryear to leave one on the France international.
Haaland produced something similar on Thomas Partey near the end, while this first challenge was followed up with a perfect Man City move; a superb Savinho assist set up the striker, who was like a man possessed as he got back on the goal trail against Arsenal after he failed to score in their meetings last season. He’s truly ridiculous.
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“Who the f*** are you?”
There were plenty of handbags being thrown around at the Etihad. One such incident involved Haaland and naive 17-year-old Myles Lewis-Skelly, who really should have known better.
The teenager admirably/foolishly (I’ll let you decide) attempted to throw his lowly weight around in a scene of giants and it’s fair to say that Haaland did not feel threatened by Arsenal’s eager youngling.
“Who the f*** are you?” was Haaland’s hilarious response to Lewis-Skelly, who – according to Gary Neville – was at risk of being “eaten” by the Man City star in this sink or swim moment. With the benefit of hindsight, he may regret deciding to get wet.
Telling Arteta to “stay humble”
To Haaland’s credit, he did also pick a fight with Arteta after the final whistle.
The Arsenal boss has done better than most in attempting to remove himself from under Guardiola’s shadow and has ruffled a few feathers in the process.
This has come via more than his fair share of moaning and Roy Keane urged the Gunners head coach to “show a bit of class” after picking faults in referee Michael Oliver’s decision to send off Trossard.
Haaland also appears to have been irked by Arteta’s recent antics as he dropped a “stay humble” dig at the Spaniard when they encountered each other on the Etihad pitch. No f-bombs were dropped on this occasion, but the subtlety of this jibe made it all the more satisfying and the cheeky grin on his face was the cherry on top.
‘F***ing clown’ Jesus
Understandably, Arteta did not take too kindly to Haaland’s words and former Man City star Jesus stood up for his boss.
Erling Haaland lost his head after the game. Coming for Arteta and Jesus. 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/CsU16jJxKK
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) September 23, 2024
Jesus was clearly just attempting to play the peacemaker, but Haaland was having none of it and dismissed the former Man City attacker just as brutally as he did with Lewis-Skelly.
READ: Arsenal ‘have the measure of the champions’; how dare ‘soft’ Pep be happy?
Bouncing the ball off of Gabriel’s head
I did say the best was being saved until last…
The Haaland and Gabriel rivalry has blossomed nicely in recent years, but it hit another gear on Sunday afternoon. Whenever the camera panned to the two players, they were seen to be exchanging petty words to wind one another up.
Gabriel (and Saliba) were brilliant against Man City, but Haaland will feel that he got the better of their latest exchange with his goal and he also had the last laugh.
As I’m sure everyone has seen now, Haaland’s response to Stones’ last-minute equaliser was to pick the ball up and bounce it off the back of Gabriel’s head.
It was the kind of juvenile act you would see in primary schools up and down the country as a peak playground move and it was f***ing magical. So sorry Ian Wright, you missed the mark with your “coward’s choice” verdict.
