Erling Haaland provokes Mikel Arteta with two-word message during fiery handshake
Subscribe For Free To Miguel Delaney's Newsletter!
Join Miguel Delaney’s Free Weekly Newsletter
Join Miguel Delaney's Free Weekly Newsletter
After a tense match at the Etihad, where Manchester City managed to secure a 2-2 draw, Erling Haaland had a spirited handshake with Arsenal's coach, Mikel Arteta, during which he advised him to "stay humble."
After the final whistle, Haaland gave Arteta a friendly pat on the back and remarked, “Just keep it humble, alright? Keep it humble.”
Arteta glanced back at Haaland after catching the remark, locking eyes with the Norwegian forward for a moment before turning and walking off.
Gabriel Jesus caught wind of the remark and turned to Haaland, saying, “Hey, why are you saying that?” while Arsenal's assistant manager, Albert Stuivenberg, moved closer to listen.
Haaland shoved Jesus aside while Jack Grealish intervened to break up the two. Meanwhile, Arteta pulled Ben White and Jesus away from the incident, guiding them towards the Arsenal fans.
Haaland, who netted his 100th goal for City earlier in the match, was also part of a confrontation with defender Gabriel after John Stones’ equalizer in the 98th minute.
Haaland retrieved the ball from the goal and playfully tapped it off the back of Gabriel's head as he sprinted away to celebrate with his teammates.
As Arsenal resumed the game with a kick-off, Haaland charged straight towards Gabriel, leading to yet another clash between the two teams competing for the Premier League title.
Later on, Bernardo Silva seemed to make fun of the Arsenal players for not having won any trophies and also criticized their playing strategy.
Silva claimed that Arsenal engaged in "sneaky tactics" and pointed out that Arteta's team took their time to play when they were down to 10 players following Leandro Trossard's red card just before halftime.
Later on, the two teams confronted each other at the center of the field, with Silva seemingly mocking Arsenal's trophy count by creating a '0' shape with his thumb and index finger and directing it at defender Gabriel.
In a conversation after the match, Silva remarked that the distinction between Manchester City's competition with Arsenal and their battle with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool was related to the number of trophies won, pointing out that Arsenal has not secured any yet.
"Perhaps it's the case that Liverpool has already secured a Premier League title, while Arsenal hasn't. Additionally, Liverpool has claimed a Champions League trophy, whereas Arsenal still hasn't achieved that," Silva noted.
"Liverpool has always approached matches with us head-on, aiming to win directly. From that viewpoint, our games against Arsenal haven't had the same intensity as those against Liverpool. So, it's possible to say that the rivalry is somewhat different."
