Erling Haaland: My girlfriend is not happy with me ‘wrestling’ in Premier League | OneFootball

Erling Haaland has said he would never go down to ground to try and get an opponent sent off after the principles instilled in him from his father may have spared Gabriel Magalhaes a red card.

The Norwegian scored the winner in the top-of-the-table clash against Arsenal but the day could have been worse for Mikel Arteta’s team when Gabriel pushed his head into Haaland’s in an apparent butt.

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Tempers frayed between Arsenal’s Gabriel (left) and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland at the Etihad Stadium (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)

But the Manchester City top scorer stayed on his feet and, to his surprise, found himself booked by referee Anthony Taylor along with the Brazilian – who would have also faced a three-match ban if he had been dismissed.

However, Haaland has vowed to remain honest as he remembered how his father, the former City, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Norway player Alf Inge, always told him to behave on the pitch.

“If I go down, it’s a red card. I would never do this,” said Haaland. “My father taught me this – stay on your feet and don’t be a… it starts with P. That’s the reality. Maybe I should have gone down, maybe it would be easier, but I didn’t and I got a yellow card for it.”

Haaland described his battle with Gabriel, who ripped his shirt at one point, as wrestling as he said that his girlfriend is unhappy about the physical nature of matches.

He added: “I think my shirt got a bit pulled. I didn’t get the foul, this is the Premier League nowadays. It’s wrestling here and there. A lot of duels. A lot of scratches. Sometimes my missus is not so happy about this, it looks a bit wrong. But that’s the reality.”

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Haaland’s shirt was ripped during an earlier grapple with Gabriel (Reuters)

City’s win means they are only three points behind Arsenal and can go top when they face Burnley on Wednesday.

And Haaland said the key is to remain cool in the title race and not to look too far ahead.

“We’re calm,” he said. “There are a few of us who have been in this situation before. A few new, a lot of new. It’s about staying calm and thinking about what you can do.

“It’s boring but you have to focus game by game. Enjoy this but tomorrow you need to start thinking about Burnley. That’s the reality of this club in this title race, because the last weeks is when things get decided.”