Arsenal’s Gabriel says teammates “were out for blood” after Erling Haaland antics | OneFootball

Manchester City’s Erling Haaland left Arsenal’s players ‘wanting blood’ last season after his antics during the 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the campaign.

The two sides were coming into a season where a third successive Premier League title battle was being anticipated between the two clubs, only for Arne Slot to claim the honour in his debut campaign as Liverpool boss.

For Arsenal, their season as a whole once again ended without any silverware despite a commendable run in the UEFA Champions League before being dismantled by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.

Manchester City, on the other hand, would see their run of four Premier League title wins come to a close with a torrid run of form across November and December largely responsible for a remarkable collapse in standards.

Nevertheless, there were bright moments and talking points in the campaign, particularly the battles between Manchester City and Arsenal, and perhaps most notably the individual war of words and actions between Erling Haaland and Gabriel Magalhaes.

The Emirates Stadium’s star defender was keen to praise the Norwegian international striker this week during a podcast appearance, highlighting the difficulties of handling the 24-year-old on the pitch.

“He’s a beast. If you blink wrong, he’s already celebrating; that’s how fast and strong he is,” the Brazilian told podcast ‘PodPah’. “He’s taller than me and really powerful,” he added.

“The best thing to do is let him control the ball, then it’s not as dangerous. But then you’ve got Bernardo Silva, [Kevin] De Bruyne… If those guys see him make a run, it’s a pass into space right away.”

There was also conversation around the battle involving the pair in last season’s 2-2 draw at the Etihad, when a last-minute equaliser denied Arsenal all three points before Erling Haaland would appear to celebrate by throwing the match ball into the head of an unassuming Gabriel.

“That incident where he threw the ball at my head, [another when] I controlled the ball and he came shoving me, knocked off my boot, then offered me a hand, and I told him to pick up my boot, he didn’t, [Kevin] De Bruyne did,” Gabriel said of the clashes between the pair.

“I did that to mess with him because he messed with me first, throwing the ball at my head. That’s where the provocation started; they were saying, ‘We have the Premier League, I won the Premier League.’ Because Arsenal hasn’t won it in a long time, right?”

The Brazilian then looked towards Arsenal’s reverse clash as they issued a destructive scoreline on Pep Guardiola’s side in North London, “It was a historic game. Beating Manchester City 5–1 you have to really play to pull that off. That day, we were out for blood.”

Manchester City and Arsenal will have to wait to go head-to-head during the Premier League season, with the latter not competing at this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, as Chelsea are the other English representatives.