‘You nasty piece of work’ – Piers Morgan blasts Premier League superstar after Arsenal’s draw with Manchester City

Piers Morgan has called Premier League top goalscorer Erling Haaland a ‘nasty piece of work’ and slammed the Manchester City striker for ‘belittling’ a 17-year-old opponent.

Haaland caused controversy during Man City’s thrilling 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Sunday by throwing the ball at Gabriel’s head after the hosts scored a dramatic 98th-minute equaliser.

The Norway international then clattered into Arsenal midfielder Thomas Partey straight from the restart, prompting several players to come head-to-head in a tense end to the fixture.

One of the players to approach Haaland was Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly, who had an eventful debut despite only coming on in injury-time as he received a yellow card while on the touchline before being involved in the fracas on the pitch.

Haaland appeared to dismiss Lewis-Skelly by shouting ‘who the f*** are you’ before he also shared words with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta and Gunners striker Gabriel Jesus, who used to play for Man City.

Arteta was told to ‘stay humble’ by the Manchester City talisman, who then appeared to call Jesus a ‘clown’ after the final whistle had been blown to bring an end to an intriguing and eventful clash between the two title rivals.

Responding to a clip showing Haaland clashing with Arteta, TV presenter and Arsenal fan Morgan said: ‘Humility lectures from the most arrogant player in the league, who nastily belittled 17-year-old Lewis-Skelly, and cowardly hurled a ball at the back of Gabriel’s head.

‘Pipe down. You nasty piece of work.’

Arsenal legend Ian Wright also criticised Haaland for picking the ball out of the net and chucking it at Gunners defender Gabriel, who had earlier put the visitors ahead with a towering header.

‘The one thing that boiled me up properly was Haaland’s coward’s move,’ he said on social media.

‘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.

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

Arsenal were seconds away from sealing a famous win at Manchester City but will be content with a point after going down to ten men shortly before half-time.

On the match, Morgan added: ‘Arsenal were the moral winners. Magnificent performance against 12-man City whose MoM [Man of the Match] was [referee] Michael Oliver.

‘Arsenal will win the league.. Man City couldn’t even beat us when we only had 10 men for the whole second half.’

The Premier League have confirmed Manchester City and Arsenal will avoid any further punishment for the scenes at the end of Sunday’s clash.

Man City are bidding to win a record-extending fifth successive Premier League title this season and have taken 13 points from their first five games.

Arsenal, searching for their first league title in 20 years, are three places and two points behind the defending champions in fourth.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.