HUMBLE pie is a dish best served cold – and Erling Haaland was force-fed until he was sick to the stomach at a throbbing Emirates Stadium.
Manchester City’s Norwegian goal machine had told Mikel Arteta to ‘stay humble’ and chucked a ball at the head of Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes after City stole an injury-time equaliser in September.




Here was payback. When Martin Odegaard fired an early opener, Gabriel screamed into Haaland’s face.
When Myles Lewis-Skelly netted a peach of a first senior goal, he aped Haaland’s goal trademark celebration.
And when Kai Havertz netted the fourth in this rout of Pep Guardiola’s fallen champions, tens of thousands of gleeful Gooners sang ‘Haaland’s a c***, ole, ole!”
Haaland actually headed an equaliser early in the second half but Thomas Partey’s deflected shot restored Arsenal’s lead and then they ran riot.
Revenge was sweet for that near-miss at the Etihad, when Arsenal’s ten men had staged the mother of all rearguard efforts to hold on to a 2-1 half-time lead only to be denied at the death.
Haaland’s antics after that last-gap John Stones equaliser have not been forgotten in north London.
And there was no need for any Arsenal humility here, as City were put through the shredder.
Guardiola’s is a team thrown into transition in mid-season, thanks to their shocking pre-Christmas meltdown – there are new players, plenty of suddenly old players and no obvious sense of identity.




City will struggle to make the Champions League places on this evidence, while Arsenal retain a slim hope of the title – they are six points behind Liverpool, having played a game more than the runaway leaders.
The Gunners are now unbeaten in five meetings with City – having previously held a shocking record against Guardiola’s team.
With Ederson deemed unfit, Stefan Ortega replaced the Brazilian in the City goal – and within 103 seconds, he was fishing the ball from the back of the net.
Manuel Akanji was the fall guy – a sloppy pass intercepted by the alert Leandro Trossard before Declan Rice fed Havertz who squared for Odegaard to apply a simple finish.
It was only the Arsenal skipper’s second Premier League goal of the season and it was first time since 2003 that City had conceded inside three minutes in back-to-back Premier League matches, although they had come back to defeat Chelsea last weekend.
When Odegaard netted Gabriel ran around Haaland and screamed into the Norwegian’s face – clearly not forgetting the City striker hurling a ball at the back of his head after City had rescued a late point at the Etihad in September.
If that was proof that Arsenal were fired up to avenge that near-miss, then the proof kept coming.
Arteta’s men were pressing like a pack of dogs, first into every 50-50, Declan Rice – in particular – tackling with a ravenous intent.

Gabriel Martinelli soon found the net, lifting a shot over Ortega but even Arsenal’s army of keyboard-warrior conspiracy theorists couldn’t argue against the Brazilian being well offside.
It took some time for City to join but when they did Omar Marmoush, on his second start since a move from Eintracht Frankfurt, fired over from 20 yards.
Then Marmoush delivered the corner from which Josko Gvardiol’s near-post header was pushed onto the bar by David Raya.
But Arsenal should have been 2–0 when Rice performed a mugging on Mateo Kovacic on the edge of the box, only for Havertz to somehow slice his shot wide.
It was an absolute sitter and it might persuade Arsenal’s hierarchy to stick an extra zero onto their £40million bid for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins ahead of tomorrow’s transfer deadline.
Odegaard started cheerleading manically but the German’s miss looked like a haunting in the making.


City started to play, Phil Foden beginning to pull some strings and shortly before half-time Raya was forced into a smart low stop to keep out Savinho’s deflected shot.
After the break, it all went off.
First the great blond bogeyman Haaland got in front of William Saliba to power a header past Raya, after a delicious turn and cross from Savinho.
Haaland raced to the City fans in the corner of the Clock End and thumped the badge on his chest as Arsenal’s supporters responded with a deluge of invective.
It didn’t matter. Almost immediately, Arsenal were back in front.
It was a criminal stray pass from Foden which picked out Partey. When the Arsenal midfielder let rip, Stones turned and the ball cannoned off his back into the corner of the net, leaving Ortega helpless.
Arsenal player ratings vs Man City

ARSENAL stunned Man City 5-1 at the Emirates on Sunday evening.
It was an incredible result against their rivals of recent years.
Here, we take a look at how the Gunners rated…
David Raya – 7/10
Had very little to do in the first half but made a brilliant save in the 22nd minute to deny a goalbound header from Josko Gvardiol. Made another stunning save two minutes from the half-time interval, stopping a deflected Savinho shot from close range. Powerless to stop Erling Haaland’s 55th-minute header from briefly levelling the scores.
Jurrien Timber – 6
Didn’t offer his usual attacking threat going forward but was solid defensively. Picked up a pointless yellow breaking up a harmless counter-attack in the 24th minute. Almost scored late in the second half.
William Saliba – 5
Didn’t have much to do in the first half but won all his aerial battles in the first 45 minutes. Marshalled the defence well early in the second period but was embarrassingly outjumped and outmuscled by Haaland for City’s equaliser – a major flaw of his that continues to be exposed.
Gabriel Magalhaes – 6
Like his defensive partner, he was seldom called into action in the first half. Dominant in the air in his battles with Haaland, who he trolled after Odegaard’s goal.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – 8
Continues to endear himself to the Emirates faithful with composure and tenacity beyond his years as he brilliantly floated between left back and midfield. Put real daylight between the two sides with a thumping finish just after the hour mark. This young lad is a real bright prospect for both the Gunners and England.
His trolling of Haaland by copying the Norwegian’s ‘Lotus’ celebration went down a storm with fans.
Thomas Partey – 7
Steady in the heart of midfield and broke up play well when required. Fired the Gunners back into the lead in the 57th minute with a deflected shot from outside the box.
Martin Odegaard – 7
Was in the right place at the right time to benefit from the aftermath of an uncharacteristic Manuel Akanji error and break the deadlock. Was at the heart of everything good the north Londoners did going forward.
Declan Rice – 6
Combative, as always, in the middle of the park and played a role in the home side taking the lead, teeing up Havertz who squared the ball to Odegaard.
Leandro Trossard – 6
Was particularly lively on the left in the first half, giving Matheus Nunes a real run for his money. His end product, however, wasn’t the best.
Gabriel Martinelli – 6
Lively on the right wing in the early goings. Found the back of the net in the fifth minute after some beautiful play from Odegaard but was needlessly offside. Forced a good save out of Ortega with a rasping effort in the 68th minute.
Kai Havertz – 6
Lively early doors, testing Stefan Ortega with a tame shot in the first minute. Teed up Odegaard for a tap in a few moments later. Missed a golden opportunity to double the lead in the 25th minute, dragging the ball wide with the goal at his absolute mercy. Made amends for his howler by finishing an even harder chance in the 76th minute. He well and truly needed that as he looked absolutely devoid of confidence.
SUBS
Ethan Nwaneri – 83 (on for Trossard) – 7
Put the cherry on top of the cake with an outrageous effort in second-half stoppage time.
Mikel Merino – 83 (on for Odegaard) – 5
Raheem Sterling – 89 (on for Kai Havertz ) – N/A
Riccardo Calafiori 89 (on for Lewis-Skelly) – N/A
Read more on all the latest Arsenal news.
And six minutes later, the highlight of Arsenal’s afternoon arrived.
Rice fed Lewis-Skelly who advanced past Savinho, shimmied, then curled his shot around Stones – Ortega only able to push it against the inside of the post and in.
Lewis-Skelly celebrated in Haaland style – the classic seated meditation pose – adding insult to the Norwegian’s injury.
Rice stormed forward and fed Martinelli, whose shot was pushed away.
Soon, it was four, Partey releasing Martinelli who fed Havertz to cut inside Stones and steer his shot past Ortega.
In injury-time, Ethan Nwaneri cut inside and thumped home Arsenal’s fifth.
“Erling Haaland, stay humble, you c***” they sang.”
This was utterly brutal for Haaland and the rest of Guardiola’s team.

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