Gary Neville had some extraordinary praise for Manchester City’s attackers – but it’s one that might not go down well with their supporters.City ripped through Arsenal in a huge Premier League clash with Erling Haaland opening the scoring in the ninth minute with a lightning fast move.Haaland turned defence into attack in stunningly rapid fashionAFPThe move reminded Neville of one of Ronaldo’s great United goalsThe hosts at the Emirates had most of the ball to open the scoring, but then the Norwegian marksman put them a goal down in a flash.Winning possession inside his own half, Haaland gave the ball to Tijjani Reijnders and the pair then got on their bikes, exchanging passes one more time before clinical finish.It was another sign that City may be experiencing the start of another great partnership, but Neville instead compared it to one from his own team.Citing another famous Emirates away goal, the Manchester United great called back to when Cristiano Ronaldo finished off a similarly scintillating attack in 2009.That time it was Wayne Rooney who assisted him as United turned a defensive corner into a goal in mere seconds and booked a spot in the Champions League final.Adding more on what he’d just witnessed, Neville said: “Absolutely amazing.“A proper goal – when Haaland first came to City, you did not see this type of goal.“It’s an absolute devastation watching him run forwards, you just think ‘does Reijnders see him, has he got the ability’ he gets it to him and then the inevitable. Wonderful from Haaland.”While there was praise for City there was also criticism for Arsenal, as an out-of-place Gabriel left a gap wide open for Haaland to run into.Speaking on talkSPORT, Gunners great Perry Groves said: “Obviously Gabriel’s gone in too far. Haaland left Arsenal’s defence in piecesGetty“It’s come into Haaland who’s just played a little ball around the corner to Rijnders. Then Rijnders breaks and he keeps going and going and going. “Gabriel doesn’t need to go in there. Gabriel can just stay by [William] Saliba as the two centre halves. “He gets sucked in when he’s actually halfway in Manchester City’s half. He doesn’t need to go in there. “Haaland’s thinking,’ I can feel you on the back of me. That’s handy. I’ve just got to play it round you’.“When it comes to Erling Haaland, you knew when he was going down that right hand side.“His first touch is out of his feet. His second touch with his right foot just rolls it past David Raya. AFPHaaland can’t stop scoring against the Gunners[/caption]“It was a brilliant finish from Erling Haaland. A brilliant breakaway goal from Manchester City.”Haaland’s opener was his fifth in the Premier League against Arsenal.Only Heung-min Son [eight] and Ollie Watkins [six] have scored more against Arsenal under Mikel Arteta‘s tutelage than Haaland.In total, Haaland has scored 22 goals in 28 appearances across all competitions in 2025, at least five more than any other Premier League player (Mohamed Salah – 17).His strike has also seen him tie level with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with the most Premier League goals by a Norwegian with 91 – doing so in 133 games fewer.