Manchester City were hammered by Arsenal 5-1 at the Emirates Stadium and Erling Haaland’s ‘stay humble’ comments from the reverse fixture have come back to bite him
Arsenal went into their rematch with Manchester City with Erling Haaland’s instructions ringing in their ears, but by full-time the Norwegian’s advice was thrown back in his face.
“Stay humble”. Those were the two words uttered by Haaland after John Stones rescued a last-gasp point for City at the Etihad Stadium back in September. As the goals flew in for the Gunners on Sunday, though, he was quickly reminded of that fact.
It started early on – not with the rapid opening goal from Martin Odegaard, but rather with Gabriel’s reaction. The Brazilian, who was seconds from being the match-winner in the reverse fixture, celebrated loudly in Haaland’s direction after Odegaard broke the deadlock.
Haaland threatened to ruin his opponents’ day early in the second half, heading home Savinho’s cross to level the scores. Within 10 minutes of that equaliser, though, it became clear there was a lot more punishment for him to face.
Thomas Partey’s deflected effort put Arsenal back in front instantly, with Myles Lewis-Skelly making it three just after the hour mark. Lewis-Skelly bore the brunt of some Haaland anger after September’s draw, but got his revenge and marked the goal by mocking his rival’s trademark celebration.
Arsenal fans had come prepared, too. During the game, cameras spotted a young fan in the crowd holding a banner which read ‘Stay humble, eh’ and a clear reference to the Norwegian.
Naturally, it didn’t end there either. Following the final whistle, as Haaland attempted to make a statement of his own to his rivals, the Emirates Stadium’s PA system began blaring out… you guessed it, ‘Humble’ by Kendrick Lamar.
Over on social media, Arsenal supporters had no plans to show off their own humility. “Every single player, staff member, employee at Arsenal FC took that ‘‘stay humble’’ from Erling Haaland personal and humbled him right in front of his eyes. This Man City downfall is sweet,” wrote one.
Others took pride in Lewis-Skelly’s celebration, with one adding: “Trolling Erling Haaland at the age of 18 is crazy. Haaland will have to remain humble forever and ever Amen”.
“Haaland now knows who he is… What a great way to respond to Erling Haaland” wrote a third, referencing Haaland’s “Who the f*** are you?” comment to the teenager back in September.
And then there was the small matter of the Arsenal fans inside the Emirates Stadium. Before the full-time whistle blew, a section of the crowd could be heard singing “Erling Haaland, stay humble you c***.”
Declan Rice said of Lewis-Skelly’s celebration: “It’s football antics. Things happen on the pitch. He celebrated, it’s obviously the Haaland celebration. I know he has respect for him, the whole team has big respect for him because of what he’s done, he’s a big player.”
Haaland still has more goals this season than any Arsenal player, but his team fell nine points behind the Gunners with their defeat. After the game, former City defender Micah Richards made a pointed reference to the striker’s quiet afternoon but backed Pep Guardiola’s team to return to their best.
“We didn’t see Haaland apart from the goal,” Richards said on Sky Sports. “I want him to be more aggressive, make more runs, give his team an option.
“It’s sad to see. I don’t expect them to win the league every year but the fall-off has been so dramatic it’s sad to see what’s going on. But they’ll bounce back.”
-Mirror
