Arsenal: Gabriel breaks silence on Erling Haaland ball incident with ominous warning for Man City

Arsenal: Gabriel breaks silence on Erling Haaland ball incident with ominous warning for Man City

The striker threw the ball at Gabriel’s head after John Stones’ equaliser

Gabriel has told Manchester City that Arsenal are “waiting for them at our ground” after their “battle” at Etihad Stadium.

The Gunners and City played out an enthralling 2-2 draw on Sunday afternoon, with Jones Stones scoring a last-minute equaliser for Pep Guardiola’s side.

Arsenal had been holding onto a 2-1 lead until that point, fighting hard in the second half despite being down to 10 men following Leandro Trossard’s red card.

Tempers flared at full-time and had already threatened to boil over after Stones’ goal, with Haaland throwing the ball at the back of Gabriel’s head.

The Brazilian defender insists he was unfazed by that, but he is expecting another feisty affair at Emirates Stadium later this season when the two sides meet again.

“It’s normal, they were happy after scoring in the last minute. They were playing at home, so their duty was to win the match, but our team did really well to resist.

“It’s a battle, a war, so it’s normal to have provocative acts in football, it’s part of the game. Now this is over and we are waiting for them at our ground.”

The Football Association are not taking any retrospective action over the scenes at the full-time whistle, nor for Haaland throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head.

The incident was looked at by VAR at the time, but it was deemed not to be an act of violent conduct and as such not a clear and obvious error. VAR cannot intervene for possible yellow cards.