Ian Wright has shamed Erling Haaland for his ‘coward’s move’ in throwing the ball at Gabriel during Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday.

Haaland, who had scored City’s first goal after nine minutes, bounced the ball off the back of the defender’s head after John Stones turned in City’s 98th-minute equaliser.

His behaviour sparked a fracas between players from both teams, with Arsenal’s stars clearly aggrieved at the striker’s mockery after playing 56 minutes with 10 men.

The Norwegian was a constant menace, asking substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly ‘who the f*** are you?’ running into Thomas Partey from kick-off after Stones’ goal, firing a sarcastic two-word command at Mikel Arteta at full time, and getting into a foul-mouthed confrontation with Gabriel Jesus.

Wright slammed him on Instagram, saying: ‘What really boiled me up properly was Haaland’s coward’s move.

The Manchester City striker will not face any retrospective punishment for his action

[data-podcast-container] #embed-iframe-wrapper {
min-height: 160px;
}
[data-podcast-container] header#podcast-container-header {
transform: none !important;
}

‘Throwing the ball at Gabi’s head when he’s not looking. When Gabi’s back’s turned to him. Real coward’s move. Gabi would look him in the eye, you know.

‘I’m looking at this as a really good defender versus stiker for the years to come. I love watching them two, and then you’re doing a coward’s move like that?

‘That’s what bothered me more than anything else. I thought you [Haaland] were bigger than that, bro.’

The Video Assistant Referee reviewed the incident. Gabriel had been facing the other way with his head covered by his shirt. It was not deemed a red card offence and VAR therefore chose not to intervene. He will avoid retrospective punishment.

Arsenal could have won the match having gone 2-1 up courtesy of a top-corner curler by Riccardo Calafiori and a header from Gabriel late in the first half.

Their task in the second half was made much sterner by the fact that Leandro Trossard got himself sent off at the end of the first half.

Trossard was shown a yellow card in the 34th minute for a tactical foul on Savinho but and added a second to the bank when he fouled Bernardo Silva before hoofing the ball away eight minutes into first-half added time.

Referee Michael Oliver had already blown his whistle for the foul and was convinced that Trossard had been deliberately trying to delay the restart – something officials were told to clamp down during pre-season briefings.

Haaland sparked a melee at the end of Sunday’s thrilling match, which ended in a 2-2 draw

Wright also accused Leandro Trossard of ‘f***ing foolishness’ in getting sent off in the first half

Trossard was shown two yellow cards by the ref, including a second for kicking the ball away

Arsenal have now received two red cards resulting from kicking the ball away this season, after Declan Rice (right) picked up a second yellow for delaying a restart against Brighton

Arsenal legend Wright said: ‘The Trossard sending-off, of course, in the moment you’re frustrated, it’s 2-1, and I’m thinking: “Yes, we’ve got them.”

‘Then he gets sent off for something that’s f***ing foolishness, what they’re getting sent off for now. Shouldn’t be sent off like that.’

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was visibly furious with the decision to dismiss Trossard.

However, Jamie carragher and Gary Neville had a similar reaction to Wright on Sky Sports.

Carragher said: ‘There’s no doubt he’s heard the whistle but it comes so quickly after the whistle it means he can get away with it. But he knows what he’s doing.’

Neville added: ‘The reason he (Oliver) knows he’s heard the whistle is because he’s half pulled out of kicking it away. He doesn’t go fully through it.’

Carragher continued: ‘What is he doing? The position his team find themselves in, and how pivotal these games are when you’re looking at points totals at the end of the season. Ridiculous thing to do.’