The Man City vs Arsenal rivalry has taken on a new dynamic after last weekend’s action-packed draw, with Pep Guardiola providing a controversial take on something Erling Haaland did right at the end of the game.
Call it ungentlemanly conduct or whatever, but the Norwegian throwing a football directly at Gabriel’s head certainly isn’t in the spirit of the game.
It showed an immaturity that Haaland hasn’t been known for, and there still appears to be little understanding as to why he wasn’t subject to retrospective action by the Premier League.
In his pre-match press conference for this weekend’s fixture against Newcastle, Guardiola was subject to a number of questions surrounding the Arsenal game.
Guardiola ready for a war with Arsenal
He referenced Gabriel’s post-match comments about wanting a war and intimated that’s what Arsenal will get in future, per a post on X from CaughtOffside columnist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano:
Romano also quoted his words in another post on X in which he appeared to defend Haaland for his actions against the Arsenal centre-back:
“The emotions are the emotions,” he said.
“So I’m sure he’s not proud of what he did, but listen, in the type of challenge that Arsenal challenged us, I understand it.”
That’s sure to antagonise Mikel Arteta and Arsenal further, and it means that the return game at the Emirates on February 1 will already be marked in red on the calendars.
It’s likely to still be too early in the season for that match to be called a title decider, but the atmosphere and sense of theatre is likely to be nothing like we’ve seen in a long, long time in the Premier League.
Perhaps going as far back as the Keane and Vieira days when Man United and Arsenal were in their pomp.
Only the strongest will survive…