Eye-opening clip of Arsenal defender William Saliba vs Man City striker Erling Haaland goes viral | OneFootball

Highlights

Pause

Unmute

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration 3:26

Loaded: 1.75%

Erling Haaland had one of his quietest games since joining Manchester City during Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League defeat away at Arsenal. The 23-year-old, who scored a remarkable 52 goals in 53 games in his debut campaign, was kept quiet by William Saliba and co. at the Emirates Stadium.

The two Premier League title contenders were on course to play out a rather dour goalless draw in north London following a cagey 85 minutes, but Gabriel Martinelli then scored what could potentially be a priceless winning goal for the Gunners. The Brazilian winger, subbed on at the start of the second half, saw his shot deflect off Nathan Ake and into the back of the Man City net, sending the home fans wild.

The result means that Arsenal enter the international break joint-top of the Premier League table, on the same number of points (20) as their local rivals Tottenham. City, meanwhile, find themselves in third spot, two points behind the north London duo.

Haaland and Saliba's stats

For the second match in a row, following last week’s shock 2-1 defeat against Wolves, the prolific Haaland failed to get himself on the scoresheet. In fact, it emerged that the Norway international accumulated 0.00(xG) against Mikel Arteta’s side, which effectively means he never looked like scoring throughout the 90 minutes.

Per Statman Dave, Haaland lost possession on eight occasions, lost three aerial duels, and had zero shots on goal. “Pocketed by Saliba,” the football statistician added. Saliba, on the other hand, won 100 per cent of his duels and completed 97 per cent of his passes against City, per Squawka. Moreover, he didn’t commit a single foul or get dribbled past once.

Video: Saliba vs Haaland

Meanwhile, a clip of a first-half battle of strength involving Saliba and Haaland has gone viral on various social media platforms, including X (formerly known as Twitter) and TikTok. In the 38th minute of the match, City had a rare opportunity to leave Haaland one-on-one with Saliba.

Rico Lewis threaded the ball through to Haaland, whose eyes must have lit up. However, the physically-imposing 6ft 4in centre-forward, who has made light work of most Premier League defenders over the past 14 months, was left in a heap by the magnificent Saliba. Watch the clip below:

Not many - if any - Premier League centre-backs have dealt with Haaland in that manner since the start of last season. Saliba received a huge cheer from the home crowd and you can certainly understand why. Handed an 8/10 rating from The Sun, Saliba was described as “immaculate on the ball against City”. “The biggest praise you can give Arsenal’s central pairing is that Erling Haaland didn’t score, thanks to barely being allowed a touch by Saliba,” the tabloid added.

Remarkably, Saliba has not been dribbled past once during his eight Premier League appearances of the 2023-24 campaign so far. Furthermore, the France international has only committed two fouls during that time.

Often compared to Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, one of the greatest defenders of the Premier League era, it’s patently clear that Arsenal have a Rolls-Royce of a centre-back in Saliba. The 22-year-old put pen to paper on a new long-term contract with the Gunners in July and clearly has a real opportunity of cementing his status as one of the club’s greatest ever centre-backs if he produces more of these elite-level performances over the coming months and years.