Erling Haaland refuses to apologise to rival after sparking furious bust-up
Erling Haaland sparked a bust-up at the end of Manchester City's recent dramatic draw with Arsenal but the striker has no regrets about his actions during the Premier League clash
Erling Haaland says he does not regret throwing a ball at the head of Arsenal rival Gabriel.
Manchester City striker Haaland picked the ball out of the net and bounced it off the back of Gabriel’s head following a 98th-minute goal from John Stones to snatch a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium last month.
Haaland's actions sparked a fracas between both sets of players at the final whistle following the ill-tempered clash between the title rivals, in which Leandro Trossard was sent off and Mikel Arteta ’s side were accused of “dirty tricks” by City’s players.
Haaland faced the prospect or retrospective action from the FA and a potential ban, but because VAR reviewed the incident and no action was taken at the time, Haaland escaped punishment.
Gabriel then went on to stoke up the title rivalry by warning champions City that Arsenal would be looking for revenge when the sides meet again at the Emirates later this season. The Brazilian defender declared: "We are waiting for them at our ground."
But in a move that is likely to raise tensions between the two clubs even further, Haaland said he does not regret what he did - and has told Arsenal to stop moaning about it.
Haaland said: "I don't regret much in life. In the heat of the moment, things happened in that game. What happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch. That's how it is."
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Gabriel later played down the incident, claiming it was part and parcel of a competitive game. He told TNT Sports Brasil: "I don’t even remember this. It’s normal, they were happy after scoring in the last minute.
"They were playing at home, so their duty was to win the match, but our team did really well to resist. It’s a battle, a war, so it’s normal to have provocative acts in football, it’s part of the game. Now this is over and we are waiting for them at our ground.”
While Gabriel was happy to play the incident down, Arsenal legend Ian Wright was furious at Haaland. He branded the City striker a 'coward' for throwing the ball at the defender's head.
"The one thing that boiled me up properly was Haaland's coward's move. Throwing the ball at Gabi's head when he's not looking. When Gabi's back's turned to him," Wright said in a video on Instagram.
"Real coward's move. Gabi would look him in the eye, you know. That's what bothered me more than anything else. I thought you [Haaland] were bigger than that."
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