Erling Haaland has admitted that his huge scrap with Arsenal rival Gabriel will leave his girlfriend feeling depressed. Manchester City’s superstar was involved in a running battle with a bruised Brazilian player during his side’s decisive 2-1 win over Mikel Arteta’s men at the Etihad.
The two, who are not on good terms, were involved in several flashpoints during this ill-tempered confrontation. Haaland’s shirt was torn during a second-half altercation and had to be replaced. Meanwhile, the Norwegian was also the victim of an attempted headbutt by Gabriel, which somehow resulted in the Arsenal defender being given a warning rather than a red card.
Haaland had the last laugh by scoring the winning goal, helping City close the gap on leaders Arsenal to just three points.
But he knows the fact that Gabriel has left his mark on him won’t go down too well with his long-time partner Isabelle Haugsen Johansen.
There’s no love lost between Haaland and Gabriel, who have indulged in a running feud in recent seasons.
And Haaland said: “I think my shirt was pulled a little bit!
“No foul was called but this is the Premier League now, there’s wrestling going on everywhere.
“A lot of duels. A lot of scars. Sometimes my young lady isn’t too happy about this. It looks a little wrong! But that’s the reality.”
Haaland admits he feels refreshed ahead of the season’s climax after missing out on playing time for Norway during the last international break.
He added: “I feel good. To be honest, the last few weeks since the international match have been good.”
“You know how I feel, but look how happy we were after the game.
“The break with the national team was very good. After playing 50 games this season, it’s really nice that the national team helped me and said, ‘Hey, relax.’
“And we also need to be ready for the most important two months of our career, the World Cup.
“I’m happy to let him relax and get his body in shape a little bit and then come back on offense.”
