Gabriel avoided a red card on Sunday afternoon as his apparent headbutt was not “excessively aggressive or violent” according to Premier League officials.
The defender pushed his head into Haaland’s but was not sent off in what was a heated exchange that could have hurt Arsenal’s title chances even further.
Referee Anthony Taylor opted to book Gabriel, as well as Haaland who spoke about the incident after the game in which he scored the winner.
“If I go down, it’s a red card. I would never do this,” said Haaland. “My father taught me this – stay on your feet and don’t be a… it starts with P. That’s the reality. Maybe I should have gone down, maybe it would be easier, but I didn’t and I got a yellow card for it.
“I think it’s always like this, a lot of fighting and things like this. It’s up to others to decide if I won that battle or not.
“I scored the goal so I won the battle in that moment, it was a great goal, it was a decisive moment and we win.”
City are three points behind the Gunners, but have a game in hand, which is at Burnley on Wednesday night. The title race is heating up and as Haaland plays mind games, Arsenal may just crumble under the pressure.