'Gabriel hugged and kissed him!' - Pep Guardiola defends Erling Haaland over 'stay humble' jibe as Man City renew rivalry with Arsenal

Arsenal and Manchester City faced off against each other earlier this season as the Gunners looked certain to give the defending Premier League champions their first defeat of the campaign. However, John Stones' 98th-minute header gave City a 2-2 draw and Haaland then threw the ball at Gabriel Magalhaes' head during the celebrations.

After the full-time whistle, Haaland then approached Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and told the Spaniard to 'stay humble'. Manchester City's season has been going wrong as they sit fourth in the Premier League standings, however, Guardiola continues to defend the Norwegian's words and has claimed that Gabriel's style of defending caused the outburst.

Speaking to the media, Guardiola said: "For Erling it's not easy. Arsenal is a physical team, in a good way, in many aspects.

"For 90 minutes, the central defender, Gabriel, pushed him, hacked him, hugged him and kissed him. The Premier League is that way.

"You have to stand up and defend your position. And now I am being asked to adjudicate on what Erling has done? I don't buy it.

"The end of the game was so emotional. In the end, a human being has to react."

The Norwegian is known for staying calm despite being constantly physically harangued by defenders in the Premier League and Guardiola also went on to praise the striker: "I'm surprised how he controls his emotions. In every action, he's being pulled and the referee plays on. How many times does it happen? And he never complains. He behaves incredibly well."

Haaland will be in action next when Manchester City travel to London to take on Arsenal on Sunday, February 2.