What Man City's Erling Haaland did after Arsenal loss and Myles Lewis-Skelly imitation amid Guardiola 'regret'

Gabriel of Arsenal looks on as Erling Haaland of Manchester City holds the match ball after the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC at Emirates Stadium on February 02, 2025 in London, EnglandGabriel of Arsenal looks on as Erling Haaland of Manchester City holds the match ball after the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC at Emirates Stadium on February 02, 2025 in London, England
Gabriel of Arsenal looks on as Erling Haaland of Manchester City holds the match ball after the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC at Emirates Stadium on February 02, 2025 in London, England | Getty Images
Manchester City’s hopes of defending their Premier League title were all-but ended by Arsenal

Manchester City fell to one of their heaviest defeats of the Premier League season on Sunday as they were beaten 5-1 at Arsenal on Sunday afternoon. The Gunners led 1-0 at half time through Martin Odegaard’s second-minute goal but Erling Haaland hauled the visitors level early in the second half.

The visitors were only level for a minute as Thomas Partey’s deflected shot found the net after Phil Foden had given the ball away. Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri added three more goals as City lost by four goals for the second time this season. The first time it happened was also against North London opposition when they were beaten 4-0 at home by Tottenham Hotspur.

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Haaland makes point after defeat

After the game, Haaland was seen pointing to the golden Premier League badge on the sleeve of his Man City shirt. Since the striker’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund, he has played a key role in two Premier League title wins while in his first campaign Pep Guardiola’s side won the treble.

After the sides drew 2-2 back in September, Haaland told Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to “stay humble” as John Stones scored late on to rescue a point at the Etihad Stadium. After Lewis-Skelly scored Arsenal’s third goal on Sunday afternoon, he imitated Haaland’s meditation pose celebration as he was surrounded by his Arsenal teammates.

“To beat them in the manner that we've done, a lot of things have to go your way. We were very aggressive, we played with a lot of courage with and without the ball, and with the high press, the limits are really, really thin,” said Arteta.

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“We scored a goal, should have scored another one clearly, and after even if you want it they are that good that sometimes you have to stay deep and defend deep, and suffer, and enjoy those moments as well. We had a bit of luck in certain moments and then we had the opportunity - our intentions, our aggression with the ball, how we wanted to hurt them. The way we finished the actions, exceptional.”

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Guardiola’s ‘regret’

Reflecting on the loss, Guardiola said: “I only regret the last 25 minutes, we forgot to do what we should do, what we have done for 65/70 minutes. Of course it’s a difficult game starting in this stadium, against that team in the first minutes it’s happened many times this season. But after 10/15 minutes I think we took the game and played really, really, really, really good and we are in it after 1-1 and good momentum we pass to make the transition with Omar [Marmoush] and a deflection and the third goal.

“But after that, we then continued to do what you have to do in terms defensively and [be a] little bit more patient. and when you’re playing that way they can run and of course at 3-1 they are comfortable, it’s more difficult. I regret the last 15/20 minutes, the rest was a really good game for our side. It’s difficult to understand when you see the result, but this is my feeling. It’s happened all season, we are giving away too many things, we are aware this cannot happen, it happened.

“But we reacted really well, and we played with personality and we defended so good and then with the ball we were a threat but unfortunately after the second happened, again many times we had the momentum. For the deflection and in other situations we conceded the goals.”

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