Erling Haaland has offered congratulations to Arsenal after Sunday’s Community Shield win, with the Manchester City striker also seen embracing Gabriel Magalhaes.
Erling Haaland hasn’t always had the best relationship with Arsenal, and he has a very public rivalry with Gunners centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes. But after Sunday’s 3-0 Community Shield defeat, the Manchester City striker was at least gracious in defeat.
Writing on Instagram, Haaland said: “Lots of work to do, we keep going together. Congrats to Arsenal.”
Out on the pitch, the forward could be seen embracing Gabriel after the game, with no obvious flare-up between the two.
Haaland certainly hasn’t been blameless in the feud between himself and Gabriel.
The striker threw a ball at Gabriel’s head following City’s late equaliser in a 2-2 draw, and his social media posts following Arsenal’s Champions League final defeat and Norway’s World Cup win over Brazil certainly appeared to target the defender.
But Gabriel has given a lot back, laughing at Haaland during Arsenal’s 5-1 win over City, mimicking Haaland’s choice of song when Arsenal won the Premier League, and making sure to include a couple of pictures of the striker in his social media post about the Community Shield.
But ‘rivalry’ is the correct word, rather than something stronger like ‘hatred’. The pair clearly have a mutual professional respect, they just want to be the one to get the better of the other.
There will be plenty more opportunities for that later this season, with Arsenal to face Manchester City in two Premier League clashes at a minimum, at home on November 28th and away on January 30th.
The two clubs could also meet in the League Cup, FA Cup, or the latter stages of the Champions League.
For now, Gabriel gets to enjoy being on the winning side in the Community Shield.
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