Erling Haaland took the risk of being suspended against Newcastle United during Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday.
Toon fans spent Sunday licking their wounds after Newcastle United’s ‘awful’ defeat to Fulham, before tuning into the Premier League’s standout fixture of the weekend.
Arsenal headed to the Eithad Stadium to take on Manchester City, in what looked like an early title decider.
Mikel Arteta’s side came agonisingly close to winning at the home of their rivals, only for John Stones to score a 98th minute equaliser against the 10 men of Arsenal.
It had been a frustrating game for Manchester City, and one that also saw Rodri go off with injury.
Pep Guardiola’s side were frustrated by Arsenal’s time-wasting, and let all of their emotions out when Stones levelled the game.
What happened with Erling Haaland during stoppage time of Manchester City vs Arsenal
As the Manchester City players ran off to celebrate, Erling Haaland was a little bit cheeky.
He grabbed the ball out of the net, and proceeded to throw it at the head of Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes.
The incident went unpunished, while Haaland then continued to cause problems after the restart. As Arsenal kicked off, he immediately knocked Thomas Partey over before barging into Gabriel.
That resulted in both teams coming together, leaving referee Michael Oliver to try and bring some calm back to the situation.
Whether Erling Haaland will be suspended against Newcastle
That incident was dealt with on the pitch, but it was unclear whether Oliver had actually seen the previous altercation when Haaland threw the ball at Gabriel.
Some may have viewed that as violent conduct, which is a three-match ban.
However, Haaland will not be receiving a retrospective ban in the aftermath of Man City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal.
According to the Daily Mail, VAR had looked at Haaland throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head during the game and decided that no action needed to be taken.
The Daily Mail add that Haaland will therefore not be retrospectively punished, meaning he will be available to Watford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday and Newcastle United in the Premier League on Saturday.
Haaland’s record against Newcastle United
Haaland is going to be available for this weekend’s game at St James’ Park, and the 24-year-old will be eager to continue his outstanding start to the season.
After five games, Haaland has already scored 10 goals. In comparison, Newcastle United’s current top scorer is Harvey Barnes with three.
The Norway international is averaging two goals a game this season, which is a concern for the Magpies ahead of Saturday’s match.
Interestingly, Haaland’s record against Newcastle is not that impressive. He has played against the Magpies on four occasions in all competitions, but has only scored once. That was on his first visit to St James’ Park, which ended in a 3-3 draw in August 2022.
Hopefully he is not able to better his record against Newcastle on Saturday. Ahead of that game, Eddie Howe has a full week to prepare his players due to Newcastle’s Carabao Cup game vs Wimbledon being postponed.
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