Erling Haaland admits he FORGOT Pep Guardiola's tactics in Arsenal title clash

Erling Haaland revealed he forgot what Pep Guardiola told the Manchester City players at half-time which helped them defeat Arsenal.

City went top of the table on goal difference after a clinical second half display saw them win 3-1 at the Emirates on Wednesday evening.

In the first half, Kevin De Bruyne latched on to a loose back pass to put City in front before Bukayo Saka levelled the scores from the penalty spot.

However, Manchester City found a new gear after the break, with Jack Grealish and Haaland capitalising on the the Gunners' mistakes.

It was Haaland's 26th goal of the season, as he edges ever closer to breaking Alan Shearer's record of scoring 34 goals in one season.

Despite their improved performance in the second half, the Norwegian was unable to recall what Guardiola said to the players at half time.

"I honestly don't remember"

In his post match interview, he told Amazon Prime: "Small adjustments at half time from Pep, in the end we have quality and we need to get it from every single player, which is what we did today.

"I honestly don't remember, I'm just so happy, I don't remember now.

"I think we have to play a bit more like this sometimes and that's exactly what we did today. I'm so proud I have to say, of every single guy.

"We can all agree that Arsenal have been the best team this season so to come to their place and play against them is not easy. But we played an amazing game and got three really important points, we're in it again."

Guardiola calls tactics "horrible"

Guardiola admitted his plans were not working for the first 45 minutes after deploying Bernardo Silva at left-back for parts of the half.

The Spaniard said after the game: "I decided something new and it was horrible.

"Second-half we were more like we are. We let them play in the build-up, our shape we let them play, Jorginho, Xhaka, Zinchenko, they find the runners outside.

"We adjust a bit, Ruben [Dias] was good going more aggressive to Odegaard, we play more and Erling helped us a lot, he used his power to keep the ball.

"In first-half they had one more man in midfield, we struggled to control."

The result means City are top of the Premier League table for the first time since November 5. However, Arsenal have a game in hand against Aston Villa, as they look to reclaim top spot.

Topics: Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, Arsenal, Premier League, Football

Joe Adams

Joe is a Journalist for SPORTbible with a primary focus on football. He has previously covered a number of other sports including boxing, rugby and F1. Wishes he was born left-footed.

@joeadamsjourno