Manchester City forward Erling Haaland has insisted he has no regrets over his actions in City’s clash with Arsenal when he threw a ball at Gabriel Magalhães’s head.
Arsenal and Man City faced off in September and the match saw both teams push themselves to the limit. Mikel Artetas’ team looked like they will be going back to London with all three points but a John Stones’s last-gasp equaliser saw the match end in a 2-2 draw.
Haaland who opened the scoring for Man City bounced the ball off Gabriel after John Stones’s equaliser, which was just one of the flashpoints in a hot-tempered 2-2 draw between the two Premier League title rivals.
Gabriel reacted by declaring it was a “war” between the two clubs and said: “Now we are waiting for them at our ground.”
Erling Haaland clashes with Gabriel (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Currently with the Norway National team ahead of the Nations League match against Slovenia and Austria also clashed with Mikel Arteta after the final whistle.
Haaland has now shared how he feels about the incident.
“I don’t regret much in life,” said Haaland. “In the heat of the moment things happened in that game. What happens on the pitch, stays on the pitch. That’s how it is.”
Haaland has also supported his City team-mate Rodri who suggested players could go on strike to protest against the congested fixture schedule.
According to Haaland, there is too much football and he has benefited from a summer as Norway did not qualify for Euro 2024.
The 24-year-old said: “I have much more energy both on and off the pitch. My head is more rested,” Haaland said. “It’s more important than people think to have a break from your job, no matter what you do, especially if there’s a big physical strain. It will be exciting to see how long a break I will get next summer.
“It’s starting to become an awful lot of matches, I think it has been for some years. The Premier League started with a winter break four years ago, we won’t see anymore of that. There has been too many matches for several years, not just after the new Champions League format. It’s nothing new, but it’s becoming a lot.”
Haaland has continued his good form in front of goal and he is one goal behind the Norway record of 33 set by Jorgen Juve.
However, the former Borussia Dortmund star insists he has not thought about how long he will continue playing for his country.
“It will be nice to beat it one day,” he said. “I haven’t thought about that [international retirement] yet. Some of you have tried to paint a picture that I don’t want to play for the national team, but you can bury that now. You can see how much I like to play for the national team. I really enjoy it.”
