After struggling for 90 minutes in March’s 0-0 draw between Manchester City and Arsenal, the Brazil defender was in no mood to drop back.The final whistle blew, but it couldn’t stop Erling Haaland and Gabriel Magalhães.
As their teammates shook hands, they confronted Gabriel Haaland, who was called for a late penalty by referee Anthony Taylor.
Pep Guardiola first acted as a peacemaker as temperatures boiled over, pushing the Norwegian striker away before the two players said their final goodbyes almost six months on as the battle was set to resume.
Haaland scored just once against Arsenal in February 2023 in Manchester City’s 3-1 win at the Emirates, featuring Gabriel and William Saliba.Less than two months later, he found the net again in a 4-1 win over Arsenal at the Etihad.
Rob Holding still has nightmares about facing him after coming on to replace Saliba with a back injury.
But as Saliba was keen to point out this week, Haaland went three games without a goal in Mikel Arteta’s side, who Arsenal won on penalties in the Community Shield last season. “He’s a great player, one of the best in the world.It’s difficult to play against him.Gabriel is good because he helps me a lot,” said the Frenchman.
The defender from Bondy, who shares Kylian Mbappé’s hometown in the Parisian banlieues, has shown his stability since joining Arsenal at the start of the 2022-23 season.I was impressed with his recovery speed and ball skills.He will again be tasked with trying to stop Manchester City’s fluid attacks.Agents have already opened negotiations with Gabriel to extend his contract, which expires in 2026, depending on Gabriel.As for the physical battle, it’s worth it alone.Atalanta and Gabriel again excelled in the Champions League on Thursday as Arsenal have kept four clean sheets in five games this season, and Arteta believes they can go even better.
Gabriel knows he will face Haaland as a result of his suspension and Arteta, who has scored nine Premier League goals, will be hoping to stop him in the first four games, to stop him. The highlight of Gabriel’s performance in Bergamo saw the Italian side pile on the pressure in the second half and a number of headers saw Italy striker Mateo Retegui come off a late substitute after denying David Ray two wonderful saves.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard will miss all three tough away games in eight days with an ankle injury.Arteta’s side secured a valuable victory over Spurs with just 36.3% possession thanks to Gabriel’s winner from a corner, then had almost as much possession as the Italian side, but were second-best for most of the game against Atalanta.Last season at the Etihad in the draw against Arsenal, they had 27% possession and their game plan was based on sitting deep and trying to get breaks.
Arteta will be aware of the criticism from some quarters for stopping the bus against their arch-rivals last time out, but it is unlikely to change how effective the tactics were.
