Erling Haaland and his ex-footballer father responded to Manchester City’s 5-1 humiliation by attempting to taunt Arsenal for failing to win a Premier League title under Mikel Arteta.

Haaland scored the solitary goal for City but was otherwise anonymous as he was given a torrid time by Gabriel Magalhães, who laughed in his face after the hosts’ opening goal.

Haaland and father Alfie, however, responded to Arsenal’s delight at the thumping victory by pointing to Arteta’s failure to win a title so far at the Emirates. Having shouted at Arteta to “stay humble” in the previous fixture, this time the Norwegian striker left the pitch pointing to his gold Premier League shirt sleeve motif.

Father Alfie, who also played for City, also responded on X to a post by Arsenal stating “THIS TEAM” alongside a photograph of Myles Lewis-Skelly striking the “meditation pose” sending up Haaland’s favoured goal celebration. “«This Team» that wins everything,” Haaland Snr responded. “Ehhhhh, not.”

Arsenal wreak revenge over Haaland’s ‘stay humble’ taunt as rivalry erupts

Arsenal’s players exacted revenge on Erling Haaland by roaring in his face and imitating his trademark celebration as they thrashed the champions.

With tensions clearly still existing between the teams following September’s heated draw at the Etihad, in which Haaland asked Arsenal teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly “who the f--- are you?”, the home side luxuriated in their dominance.

Lewis-Skelly produced an imitation of Haaland’s meditation celebration after scoring Arsenal’s third goal, while centre-back Gabriel Magalhães pointedly roared at the City striker following the home side’s early opener. In September, Haaland had thrown the ball at the back of Gabriel’s head, prompting the Brazilian to describe their clash as a “war”.

Asked about these incidents after Sunday’s match at the Emirates, City manager Pep Guardiola said: “Oh, I didn’t see them do that. That’s good. That’s good. So he did Haaland’s celebration? They have done it? Ah, that’s good.” After a long pause, he added again: “That’s good.”

The defeat was the joint-heaviest of Guardiola’s career and marked only the second time that he has seen his side concede five goals in a single game, following a 5-2 loss to Leicester City in 2020. It also meant that City have now conceded more Premier League goals this season than struggling Manchester United, who lost 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace earlier in the day.

Mikel Arteta urged his players to leave the incidents involving Haaland on the pitch, saying: “I haven’t seen that and there is nothing I want to discuss about that. It is down to the players but they know my view on it.

“We have to focus on us and leave anything that happens, it’s part of the game, on the pitch. Whatever happens there, just leave it, there’s nothing there to do.”

The Arsenal manager also said he did not use any of the incidents from September as part of his preparation for the match.

Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, meanwhile, said of Lewis-Skelly’s celebration: “It’s just football antics. Things happen on the pitch. It is one of those things. He celebrated using Haaland’s celebration but I know he has big respect for him. Our whole team has big respect for Erling because of what he has done in the Premier League and the goals he has scored. He is a top player. But today obviously our two centre-halves had an amazing game.”

John Stones, the City defender, apologised to his team’s supporters and described the performance in the second half as unacceptable. After conceding in the second minute, City were level for only 105 seconds before Thomas Partey restored Arsenal’s lead.

“It is difficult,” said Stones. “I think all of us don’t take losing well. It is hard to put into words straight after a game like that. Pride hurts. Sorry to the fans that have travelled to come and watch that.

“How we played in the last 30 minutes was not acceptable. Personally and collectively, it’s not us.

“It is not nice to be involved in that when you know it’s not your team in those situations. Credit to Arsenal, this is not an easy place to come to. For 65 minutes, we played some great football at times.

“We were in the game and it was a swinging point. It swung the wrong way for us. I am angry, upset personally and collectively about how the game finished.”

Arteta praised the aggression and courage of his players as they struck through Martin Odegaard, Partey, Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and teenager Ethan Nwaneri.

“To beat them in the manner that we’ve done, a lot of things have to go your way,” said the Arsenal manager. “We were very aggressive, we played with a lot of courage. We had a bit of luck in certain moments.

“You have to be very efficient, you need a bit of luck, you need an individual action. We had it all today, that’s why the result reflects that distance, because a lot of things went our way.”

‘He’s got to be aggressive’

Pundits were scathing of Haaland’s performance afterwards, with Thierry Henry questioning why he was “not running in behind” and Micah Richards accusing him of failing to use his physicality.

Haaland headed City level after 55 minutes, but Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri secured a handsome victory for the London club.

Richards said that City’s struggles this season were “sad to see” as he and Henry singled out Haaland for criticism. Richards said of the striker: “The thing is, from my point of view, he’s got to be aggressive ... I don’t expect Haaland to be delicate. One-touch, two-touch passing, because that’s not his game ... I expect him to use his frame more. As a defender he is making it too easy for me at this moment in time. If you go really tight, he loses the ball.”

Henry said he could not understand why Haaland was not “running in behind” on several occasions. “It’s a yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes,” he said in dismay as he reviewed highlights of Haaland failing to spin his defender during City breaks.

Henry, who played under Guardiola at Barcelona, said the City manager, who is reportedly splitting with his wife, is not his “usual self”. “It’s not easy to deal with stuff like that when you’re not well mentally,” he added. “You can see that is not his usual self.”