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Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has delivered his verdict on the incident between Gabriel Magalhaes and Erling Haaland in the second half of Manchester City's win over Arsenal
Wayne Rooney has claimed that Gabriel Magalhaes was "lucky" to avoid a red card after appearing to headbutt Erling Haaland during Manchester City's 2-1 win against Arsenal on Sunday.
The incident occurred in the 83rd minute when Gabriel and Haaland went head-to-head after the Arsenal defender fouled the City forward in the middle of the pitch.
After he was brought down, Haaland reacted and proceeded to push the Brazilian with a bit of force. Gabriel didn't like that and the two ended up coming nose-to-nose.
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Gabriel then seemed to push Haaland away with his head, with City's players demanding for the Arsenal man to be sent off as they saw a headbutt.
Referee Anthony Taylor gave Gabriel and Haaland a yellow card each and VAR had a closer look at the incident but decided to stick with the on-field decision.
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But Manchester United legend Rooney believes that Gabriel was fortunate to remain on the pitch and not receive a straight red card. Speaking on BBC's Match of the Day, Rooney said: "A little bit of handbags, and Gabriel’s probably a little bit lucky, I think, to stay on the pitch."
Gabriel and Haaland were locked in a battle throughout the game, with the City forward getting the better of his opponent on a number of occasions, including when he scored what proved to be the winner.
"Yeah, it was a good old-school battle, wasn't it? Between the two top players, I really enjoyed Haaland's performance today," Rooney added. "He had his intentions right from the start, closing the goalkeeper down, putting pressure on the Arsenal back line all afternoon.
"He had his positioning just off the back of Gabriel. Great movement, gets across the front room. Probably should do a little bit better with the finish, but again, all day, he was causing Arsenal problems. He had just been in the right place, been a nuisance, not switching off, anticipating where the ball's going to drop."
Haaland managed to outmuscle Gabriel inside the box before swivelling and firing the ball home in the second half to put City back in front, after Gabriel Martinelli had cancelled out Rayan Cherki's opener.
"Then the goal, I really like. He's always on the back of Gabriel. He can always see his number, and now Gabriel doesn’t know where he is," Rooney continued.
"Then he gets involved, and once Gabriel gets involved, he loses focus, he loses positioning. Erling Haaland is a strong man. Uses all his power, and that's a fantastic finish."
Rooney made clear Gabriel didn't enjoy his fight with Haaland on Sunday. The United icon added: "Again, he had these little battles. Knocking him off his feet, making him have to touch him, have to foul him. He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all. And again, he had his all over his back. Haaland’s being strong, being a nuisance.
"This is what you want to see from Erling Haaland in every game. If he does this, he is unplayable."
The 2-1 win for City has moved them to within THREE points of leaders Arsenal in the race for the title. But Pep Guardiola's side can move level – and into top spot – with a win against Burnley in their game in hand on Wednesday.
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