You feared Gabriel Magalhaes had gone too early in goading Erling Haaland. Less than two minutes it took for the Arsenal defender, with a contorted expression overcome by the ecstasy of his side taking an early lead through Martin Odegaard , to reignite his feud with the Manchester City striker by celebrating in Haaland's face. These two have history, of course. They aren't on each other's Christmas card lists, put it that way. Perhaps, Gabriel knew what lay ahead.
Haaland touched the ball just six times in the opening 45 minutes, completing just one successful pass. You only need one touch to score a goal, of course. Indeed, the Norwegian threatened to ram the Brazilian's antics back down his throat early in the second half as he nodded a header beyond David Raya to level.
The self-inflicted pain suffered by City's shambolic defence during the remainder of the second half ensured that Arsenal - and Gabriel - left the Emirates with the last laugh. After Arsenal scored their first goal, Gabriel goaded Haaland by laughing in the striker's face. It is Haaland who has to stomach a large slice of humble pie after this. The sight here of his arch-nemesis, the clench-fisted Gabriel, pumping up the crowd almost as if to rub this heavy defeat in Haaland's face won't have helped Haaland's mood.
The tannoy operator's choice of full-time music - Kendrick Lamar's track Humble - won't have been lost on Haaland, either. Nor would the sight of the brilliant Myles Lewis-Skelly imitating Haaland's trademark meditation celebration after hammering home Arsenal's third.
That's good,' responded City boss Pep Guardiola when asked about Lewis Skelly's choice of celebration. Such antics aside, what a player Lewis-Skelly is becoming.
