What Erling Haaland repeatedly shouted at Tijjani Reijnders before Arsenal goal | OneFootball

Erling Haaland scored the only goal for Manchester City in their 1-1 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

City took a ninth minute lead in north London after Haaland started and finished a simple yet effective counter attack to score his seventh goal in six games this season, with summer signing Tijjani Reijnders setting up the Norwegian for the second time this term.

Pep Guardiola’s men shut up shot after taking the lead and set up in uncharacteristically conservative fashion to keep Arsenal at bay, with football fans and pundits comparing City’s game-plan at the weekend to that of a side managed by Jose Mourinho.

And much like Arsenal in recent years, it was close but no cigar for the Blues on Sunday as Gabriel Martinelli’s injury-time leveller salvaged a 1-1 draw for the Gunners, with City’s mastermind plan nearly working to perfection but only delivering a point for the visitors.

Speaking in an appearance on ESPN FC after the game, Norwegian former footballer and journalist Jan Aage Fjortoft provided some insight into Erling Haaland’s on-pitch conversation with Tijjani Reijnders in the build-up to Manchester City’s only goal against Arsenal.

As Arsenal stepped up and maintained a very high defensive line deep into City territory early on, Guardiola’s men won possession and launched a counter attack as Reijnders drove deep into the Arsenal territory with Jeremy Doku on the left and Haaland to his right.

Having spoken with his compatriot after the game, Fjortoft revealed that Haaland – who is renowned for his skill in timing his runs so as to avoid being flagged offside – repeatedly shouted “Wait!” at Reijnders to ensure the timing of the pass eventually played into him by the Dutch midfielder – before he calmly finished past David Raya to break the deadlock.

With Kevin De Bruyne joining Napoli on a free transfer in the summer, Haaland has quickly forged a strong partnership with Reijnders, who joined Manchester City for £46.3 million from AC Milan in June.

Reijnders delivered an all-time great Premier League debut on the opening day of the 2025-26 campaign as Manchester City won convincingly away at Wolves. The 26-year-old grabbed his first goal in English football in the first half before setting up Haaland just after the break.

Though Manchester City are undergoing a period of transition on the pitch following a busy transfer window, Haaland has remained ruthless as ever as he bagged his seventh goal of the season against Arsenal on Sunday, when he probably should have scored another when set up by Doku on the break in the second half.

With Phil Foden gradually returning to his best and summer signing Rayan Cherki out injured, Guardiola will be banking on Reijnders to maintain his fine start to life at the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City look to build on their recent momentum after a slow start to the season.

Early league defeats against Brighton and Tottenham – as well as Martinelli’s last-gasp leveller for Arsenal on Sunday – have left the Blues in ninth place in the Premier League table after five games, eight points behind league leaders and title holders Liverpool – ahead of Saturday’s Premier League meeting against Kyle Walker and Burnley at the Etihad Stadium.