Erling Haaland and his ex-footballer father responded to Manchester City’s 5-1 humiliation by attempting to taunt Arsenal for failing to win a Premier League title under Mikel Arteta.
Haaland scored the solitary goal for City but was otherwise anonymous as he was given a torrid time by Gabriel Magalhães, who laughed in his face after the hosts’ opening goal.
Pundits were scathing of Haaland’s performance afterwards, with Thierry Henry questioning why he was “not running in behind” and Micah Richards accusing him of failing to use his physicality.
Haaland and father Alfie, however, responded to Arsenal’s delight at the thumping victory by pointing to Arteta’s failure to win a title so far at the Emirates. Having shouted at Arteta to “stay humble” in the previous fixture, this time the Norwegian striker left the pitch pointing to his gold Premier League shirt sleeve motif.
Father Alfie, who also played for City, also responded on X to a post by Arsenal stating “THIS TEAM” alongside a photograph of Myles Lewis-Skelly striking the “meditation pose” sending up Haaland’s favoured goal celebration. “«This Team» that wins everything,” Haaland Snr responded. “Ehhhhh, not.”
Arsenal moved to within six points of Premier League leaders Liverpool, having opened the scoring inside two minutes when defender Manuel Akanji lost possession, allowing Martin Odegaard to steer home Kai Havertz’s pass.
Haaland headed City level after 55 minutes, but Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri secured a handsome victory for the London club.
Richards said that City’s struggles this season were “sad to see” as he and Henry singled out Haaland for criticism. Richards said of the striker: “The thing is, from my point of view, he’s got to be aggressive ... I don’t expect Haaland to be delicate. One-touch, two-touch passing, because that’s not his game ... I expect him to use his frame more. As a defender he is making it too easy for me at this moment in time. If you go really tight, he loses the ball.”
Henry said he could not understand why Haaland was not “running in behind” on several occasions. “It’s a yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes,” he said in dismay as he reviewed highlights of Haaland failing to spin his defender during City breaks.
Henry, who played under Guardiola at Barcelona, said the Spaniard, who is reportedly splitting with his wife, is not his “usual self”. “It’s not easy to deal with stuff like that when you’re not well mentally,” he added. “You can see that is not his usual self.”
