Erling Haaland makes Man City pledge after controversial Gabriel incident vs Arsenal - 'I will not'

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Erling Haaland and Gabriel endured a war on Sunday as Manchester City beat Arsenal 2-1 to take control of the Premier League title race

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland said he would never feign injury to get another player sent off after a controversial incident involving Arsenal centre-back Gabriel. With the Blues leading 2-1 thanks to Haaland's second half strike, tempers flared when Haaland pushed the defender after a free kick was awarded in his favour.

The two players then squared up to each other with Gabriel appearing to be the aggressor as he moved his head towards Haaland. Instead of going to ground, the City man continued to face off with the Arsenal defender before both sets of players piled in to separate them.

When asked about the incident at full time, Haaland told Sky Sports: "If I fell on the floor there, which I will not do unless someone really attacks me, then it would be red card. I'm not sure, I haven't seen the situation. It is what it is, I will not fall on the floor. For me I don't know why he comes up to my face."

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Once the incident had settled, both Haaland and Gabriel were booked. Former Premier League referee Mike Dean said on commentary the defender was 'very, very lucky' not to be sent off and former Manchester United captain Gary Neville was equally confused by the decision.

Post-match, he told Sky Sports: "If Gabriel had scored later on or had some impact on the game, Pep Guardiola would've been fuming. It's accepted in football you can put your head against each other, but once you push it forward, it's usually a red. I was happy he didn't send him off. I got sent off for it against Steve McManaman, I leant my head forward."

Former City and Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira added: "I really enjoyed that battle [between Haaland and Gabriel]. In the last couple of years those two players have been really hard for each other, but the referee managed it really well.

They were competitive, they were difficult, but these are the kind of games we want to see, that we enjoy watching. I don't think Gabriel deserved a red card."

On the game itself, Haaland concluded by paying tribute to Bernardo Silva who was awarded Man of the Match. "I told him, when he headed [a late cross beating Viktor Gyokeres to the ball] out: 'You were like f****** [Fabio] Cannavaro today," he said.

"Today, Bernie, I'm not going to make it emotional, you were amazing today as well. Every game is a final. On Wednesday we have a new final. When we have stopped speaking here, it's about recovering for the Burnley game. Because the Burnley game just as important as this game. We need to stay focus, stay humble."