Erling Haaland has thanked Manchester City and the club’s fans for ‘all the support over the past couple of weeks’ after being slammed by angry Arsenal fans and branded a ‘coward’ by Ian Wright.
Haaland angered the Arsenal fan base by throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head after Man City’s injury-time equaliser in last month’s 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.
In a feisty affair, Arsenal appeared set to seal a famous win in Manchester after Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori scored first-half goals following Haaland’s early opener.
The ten-man Gunners produced a superb defensive performance to keep Man City at bay before John Stones scored with virtually the last kick of the game to break Arsenal’s hearts.
Haaland’s antics in the Arsenal box were picked up by the Sky Sports cameras but did not cause much of a stir until Wright took to social media almost 24 hours after the game to vent.
‘I just felt like I needed to put something out there which has been bothering me,’ Wright said in a widely shared video.
‘The one thing that boiled me up properly was Haaland’s coward’s move, bro. I saw it this morning properly.
‘Throwing the ball in Gabi’s head when he’s not looking. When Gabi’s back’s turned to him. Real coward’s move.
‘Gabi would look him in the eye, you know. I’m looking at this as a really good defender vs striker for the years to come, them two. I love watching them two. And then you’re doing a coward’s move like that?
‘That’s what bothered me more than anything else. I thought you was bigger than that, bro. I thought you was bigger than that.’
Fellow Gunners legend Martin Keown said Haaland had made himself Arsenal’s ‘personal enemy’ following his controversial antics, while Piers Morgan branded the Premier League’s top goalscorer a ‘nasty piece of work’.
Haaland went two weeks without referencing the incident but finally addressed the criticism in his first Instagram post in nearly a month.
The Norway striker wrote: ‘Hey guys. Just wanted to thank the club, the fans and everyone for all the support over the past couple of weeks.
‘Let’s look ahead and focus on what’s next.’
Haaland has enjoyed a sensational start to the new season, scoring 11 goals in nine games in all competitions, including two hat-tricks.
He failed to get on the scoresheet at the weekend but Man City nevertheless beat Fulham 3-2 to stay on the coattails of early Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Haaland is so dominant, in fact, that only two defenders are capable of stopping him, according to Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger.
‘I think I’m more of an old-school defender who loves this battle with strikers, especially with strikers like him [Haaland] because that guy is an absolute beast,’ Rudiger said on The Inside Scoop.
‘I don’t know what he eats or what he does, but he’s… wow, the power he has.
‘When I see his goals, if you put a cross high at the second post you can’t beat him. You cannot beat him. If he wants, you’re under him every day.
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‘He’s a beast, it’s crazy. Yes, he didn’t score against us [Real Madrid] and stuff like this but he hit the crossbar, there was luck on our side.
‘How do I prepare for this type of player, it’s hard to prepare because you just have to be ready for the physical battle.
‘You just have to be ready for this and try not give him too much space in your back because he’s dangerous. If you run with him, it can be tough because when he puts his arm out.
‘There’s rarely people who can physically match him. The ones I’ve seen in the last couple of years is Virgil [Van Dijk], who is the same size as him, that’s a good match up, and I have to say Saliba also did very well.’
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