Arsenal's humble jibes to Erling Haaland are "good for football" claims ex-Man City star

Former Manchester City winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has told Sports Mole that the "banter" seen in Sunday's clash between Arsenal and the Citizens is "good for football".

The two Premier League giants were involved in a fiery affair at the Emirates Stadium despite the scoreline being anything but close.

Arsenal's squad entered the contest with some extra motivation after Haaland told Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to "stay humble" following September's 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium.

With Haaland's remarks at the forefront of their mind, Arsenal went on to get one over the Norway international despite the fact that he scored in the 55th minute to cancel out Martin Odegaard's opener.

Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri all got in on the act as Arsenal cruised to a 5-1 home victory over Pep Guardiola's side.

Arsenal's humble jibes were a "bit of a banter"

Notably, Gabriel celebrated in Haaland's face following Odegaard's opener, before Lewis-Skelly copied the striker's celebration, seemingly offering a reply to the Norwegian's 'Who are you?' comment from September's 2-2 draw.

Wright-Phillips believes that the actions from the Arsenal players were simply banter, although he noted that Lewis-Skelly could have chosen a different celebration for his first senior goal.

"I just think it's gamesmanship; it's a bit of a banter," Wright-Phillips told Sports Mole. "I think, from a player's point of view, if you give it, you've got to be able to take it back.

"But the other thing I'd say is for Lewis-Skelly, for his first goal, I think he should have made it more about himself rather than the opponent. Your first goal never comes around again, but now everyone's talking about his first goal in respect of him getting back at Haaland.

"So it's a bit of an interesting look at it, but for me, no, his gamesmanship, it's all good banter for me. It's good for football."

Haaland vs. Arsenal drama is "good for football"

Haaland delivered a response to Gabriel after the full-time whistle, pointing to the golden Premier League badge on his sleeve, before he repeated the same gesture again when he applauded the travelling support.

Wright-Phillips feels that the Man City striker would have learned his lesson from the back-and-forth, but the former England international ultimately believes that the sort of gamesmanship and rivalry seen on Sunday is good for the game.

"I think he's learned it," Wright-Phillips said. "If you see what he did after, when I think it was Gabriel that was running past him, giving him a bit of stick, he just pointed at the Premier League badge.

"That's just the going and the taking and the giving, and it's football. It happens in the training ground amongst your own peers.

"It's just obviously slightly different when it's against somebody that you're coming up against, but for me, I love it. I love when Maddison was doing it, I love the Vardy stuff, I like it all! It's good for football."

Despite the fallout from Sunday's game, Arsenal will already be focusing on their next assignment, with the Gunners looking to overturn a two-goal deficit in Wednesday's EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Newcastle United.

As for the Citizens, they will be back in action on Saturday when they return to the capital for an FA Cup fourth-round meeting with third-tier Leyton Orient.

Shaun Wright-Phillips was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of BetVictor.