Erling Haaland provoked Mikel Arteta with a two-word message during a fiery full-time interaction following Manchester City’s draw with Arsenal.
The Gunners thought they were heading top of the Premier League table but were denied when John Stones prodded home a 97th-minute equaliser to rescue a point.
After a cagey affair at the Etihad, emotions boiled over at full-time, with Haaland issuing a spikey message to Arteta as the two convened on the pitch.
Patting the Spaniard on the back, the City striker told the Gunners boss: ‘Stay humble, eh, stay humble.’
Having heard the comment, Arteta turned around to stare at the Norwegian striker before turning and walking away.
Gabriel Jesus immediately confronted Haaland for his comments, telling the City striker: ‘Come, come why you saying, you talking.’
But Haaland was clearly in no mood to reconcile and hit back at the Brazillian, saying: ‘Talking about what? I wasn’t talking f*****g clown.’
‘What are you talking about get the f**k away you f*****g clown,’ the City striker added as he pushed Jesus away, with Jack Grealish and Ben White stepping in to dissolve the confrontation.
It marked a drama-filled game for Haaland who notched up his 100th City goal in the first half with a cool finish past David Raya.
And the 24-year-old made sure to enjoy Stones’ late equaliser, gathering the ball from the back of the net before bouncing it off the back of Gabriel’s head.
Moments later, Haaland got into a confrontation with the Brazilian centre-back in which he then appeared to say ‘who the f**k are you?’ to Arsenal’s 17-year-old substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly.
After full-time, City midfielder Bernardo Silva turned the dial even further on this brewing rivalry as he took aim at Arsenal’s style of play during the encounter.
‘There was only one team that came to play football. The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately,’ he told TNT Sports.
‘We’re not happy as we wanted the three points, but personally I’m happy with the way we came to play and faced the game. I’m glad we always enter the pitch to try to win every match.’
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