Erling Haaland verbally clashed with the Arsenal players after the match (Image: Sky Sports)
Piers Morgan has branded Erling Haaland a “nasty piece of work” due to his conduct after Sunday’s tumultuous match.
Manchester City and Arsenal fought to a 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium over the weekend. Haaland had put City in front, but Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhaes staged a thrilling comeback.
Arsenal were down to 10 men just before half-time due to Leandro Trossard’s sending off. It seemed as though the Gunners would clinch the three points, but John Stones scored an equaliser during injury time.
The drama didn’t end with the final whistle as Haaland was seen in a heated exchange with Mikel Arteta and Gabriel Jesus afterwards. He was heard advising the Arsenal manager to be “humble”.
Broadcaster Morgan was left incensed and targeted the Man City striker.
Piers Morgan was not impressed with Erling Haaland’s antics (Image: PA)
On social media, he wrote: “Humility lectures from the most arrogant player in the league, who nastily belittled 17-year-old Lewis-Skelly, and cowardly hurled a ball at the back of Gabriel’s head. Pipe down. You nasty piece of work.”
Morgan didn’t stop at Haaland’s antics. He also dismissed Michael Owen’s remarks as “nonsense”.
The former Liverpool and Manchester United forward commented: “Great game yesterday but Arteta’s reaction and comments after were poor yet again. It was a certain red card for Trossard.
“The only team hard done by was City as Michael Oliver allowed the game to restart a couple of seconds too early in the lead up to Arsenal’s equaliser.”
Haaland will not face any FA punishment but also drew sharp criticism from former Arsenal striker Ian Wright.
After Stones netted an equaliser for Man City, Haaland was seen picking up the ball and chucking it at Arsenal’s Gabriel, who had his back turned.
Wright lashed out at Haaland over the incident on social media, stating: “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. 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.”
Despite concerns that Haaland might face retrospective FA action, no punishment is forthcoming for the Norwegian as the VAR did not consider the act violent conduct.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1952457/Piers-Morgan-Ian-Wright-Man-City-Arsenal