Man City ‘coward’ Haaland now Arsenal star’s ‘personal enemy’ after ‘act of disrespect’ – Keown

Man City striker Erling Haaland will have made himself Arsenal’s “personal enemy” after getting into it with Gabriel Magalhaes during Sunday’s 2-2 draw, says Martin Keown.

Haaland opened the scoring against Arsenal at the Etihad after eight minutes, slotting the ball past David Raya for his 100th goal in a City shirt.

It was a physical match that threatened to boil over from the first seconds when Kai Havertz crashed into Rodri – who left the pitch with a serious knee injury in the 21st minute and is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Haaland got into it physically with Arsenal centre-backs Gabriel and William Saliba, leaving one in on the latter when attempting to win a lost cause in the air.

The clashes between Haaland and Gabriel are usually tasty but Sunday’s match was bloody delicious.

Following John Stones’ 98th-minute equaliser, the Norwegian picked up the ball and threw it into the back of Gabriel’s head, much to the amusement of Man City’s fans.

He will not be disciplined for the incident – as he shouldn’t – but former Arsenal defender Keown believes it was disrespectful, while Ian Wright has called Haaland a ‘coward’ for his actions.

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Keown: Haaland is Arsenal’s ‘personal enemy’ after fiery Etihad draw

Speaking this week, Keown claimed that Haaland is now the Gunners’ centre-backs “personal enemy” and believes tensions did not tip over the edge due to the relationship between managers Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.

“When I was tussling with strikers for a living, I had a little black book in my mind of opponents with whom I could get into a battle,” he said.

“I was a contact defender and knew who would collapse like a pack of cards when given half the chance and who would stand up to me. If Ruud van Nistelrooy was at one end of the spectrum, Mark Hughes was very much at the other, giving as good as he got whenever we were engaged.

“Erling Haaland has shown he is not someone who will shy from the fight with Gabriel and William Saliba going forward. He was already the ultimate test professionally.

“Now, he is practically their personal enemy as Sunday saw that rivalry go up a gear, not least when Haaland committed an act of disrespect by throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head after Stones scored.

“Arsenal’s clashes with Manchester United forever carried an edge, the sense that we didn’t like them and they didn’t like us and so fireworks were expected. Led by Haaland, that same ill feeling is developing now between English football’s latest elite rivals.

“It’s bubbling, and nearly spilt over when Haaland crashed into Thomas Partey after the restart, but I believe what kept a lid on it all was the respect between Arteta and Guardiola.

“It helps that these two former colleagues are such close friends, which certainly wasn’t the case in the early days of Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.

“Instead of turning on each other, Arteta and Guardiola’s fire was directed at [referee Michael] Oliver. Make no mistake, however, when these two titanic teams meet again, there will be no love lost between Haaland and Gabriel or Saliba.”

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