Erling Haaland felt Gabriel should have been sent off for moving his head towards him during Manchester City’s win over Arsenal – and would have been if he had fallen to the floor.
Haaland scored the second-half winner in City’s vital 2-1 Premier League victory and had a long running battle with the Gunners’ Brazilian defender at the Etihad Stadium.
Their contest reached boiling point late on when the pair squared up and put their heads together, with Gabriel appearing to move his head towards the Norwegian.
“I think if I fell on the floor there, which I will not do unless someone really attacks me, I think maybe it would be a red card,” Haaland told Sky Sports.
“I haven’t seen the situation (again) and it is what it is. But I will not fall on the floor as easy like this.
“Yellow card for me I don’t know why. He comes on to my face.”
Haaland showed great strength to hold off Gabriel after 65 minutes and fire home his first Premier League goal since February 11, putting the destiny of the title in City hands with six games left to play.
"Manchester City in charge, again!"
Erling Haaland powers through to find the back of the net 💪 pic.twitter.com/tt04wbQnaz
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 19, 2026
City will go top on Wednesday by winning their game in hand at struggling Burnley.
Haaland said: “It’s for others to decide if I won that battle or not. But I scored the goal and won that battle in that decisive moment.
“It was a good cross, the ball came, and the finish was perfect. I think it was a great goal and in the end we win.
“Every game is a final and now it’s about focusing and recovering for Burnley.
“The Burnley game is as important as this game, as the Chelsea game was. We need to focus and stay humble.”
