- Myles Lewis-Skelly mimicked Erling Haaland’s trademark meditation celebration
- Haaland’s dad, Alf-Inge, then took a swipe at Arsenal’s lack of trophies in return
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Does the Premier League REALLY need to look at goal celebrations?
Arsenal legend Alan Smith has hit out at Erling Haaland‘s dad, telling him to ‘get back in his box’, after he criticised Myles Lewis-Skelly’s controversial goal celebration.
Youngster Lewis-Skelly scored in his side’s 5-1 drubbing of Manchester City last weekend before mimicking Haaland’s trademark meditation stance, leading to a backlash from pundits.
Earlier this season, Haaland had thrown the ball at Gabriel Magalhaes‘ head after John Stones scored a 97th-minute equaliser in the reverse fixture. He was then overheard urging Mikel Arteta to ‘stay humble’ in tense post-match scenes.
The striker also brutally mocked Lewis-Skelly, asking him: ‘Who are you?’
After Arsenal exacted their revenge at the Emirates, Haaland Snr took offence to his son becoming the butt of the joke and pointed to the club’s trophy woes.
‘This Team that wins everything. Ehhhhh, not,’ he wrote in response to a photo of Lewis-Skelly’s celebrations.
But Smith has defiantly responded, insisting Lewis-Skelly’s antics were humorous and claimed Alf-Inge should stop living through his son’s achievements.
‘Haaland’s dad had a little chip, didn’t he?’ Smith told the Seaman Says podcast. ‘Saying, “oh, yeah, all those trophies you’ve won,” or something like that. I thought, “oh, leave it”. It’s just funny!
‘By the way, Alf-Inge, you didn’t win much! Back in your box.
‘You can’t live your life through your son, you know. It was a great moment, wasn’t it?
‘Those kinds of things are great.’
Pep Guardiola has insisted he would not want his players to retaliate in their next showdown against Arsenal, saying: ‘No, come on, it’s a reaction, forget!
‘It has happened. Later in our games maybe we’ll find them in the Champions League this season.
‘Otherwise, it’s over the chance we can face, and next season we’ll try to beat them. This season we could not do it at home and away.
‘That’s all, it’s really, really not important.’
Earlier this week, the Premier League announced their intention to scrutinise future goal celebrations and could take disciplinary actions in extreme cases.
Confirming the move, the Premier League’s chief football officer, Tony Scholes, said: ‘There’s a balance. I think we all like to see celebrations.
‘Some of the celebrations have been very funny, entertaining, but there’s a line.
‘Once it crosses over into mockery or criticism then we would need to deal with it.’
