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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the English Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City came to a conclusion, with a humiliating 5-1 defeat for the defending champions, Arsenal’s DJ at the Emirates could not help playing Be Humble by US rapper </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-03-in-pictures-the-2024-grammys-belonged-to-beyonce-kendrick-lamar/?dm_source=dm_block_grid&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=maverick-life\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kendrick Lamar</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What was the significance of the Emirates Stadium’s resident DJ blasting the song by the multiple Grammy winner? </span>\r\n<h4><b>Humility</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In September 2024, when the Manchester side and Arsenal clashed for the first time in the 2024/25 league campaign, City striker Erling Haaland went on to tell Arsenal manager: “Stay humble, eh. Stay humble.” </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fiery contest ended 2-2, with Arsenal exposing some frailties that have </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-13-manchester-city-faces-uphill-battle-as-guardiola-struggles-to-revive-their-title-defence/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">haunted City</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for much of this season.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, in the previous two seasons the Gunners fell marginally short of clinching the league title – with City manager Pep Guardiola denying his disciple and good friend Mikel Arteta the honour of leading Arsenal to their first league crown since 2004.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though Arsenal are once again second-best on the log table, this time to Arne Slot’s Liverpool (surprisingly), the Gunners unleashed all the anger and disappointment of seasons past in front of their adoring fans at the Emirates with this weekend’s pummelling of the English champions. </span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2575441\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12793891-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Manchester City\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> <em>Erling Haaland of Manchester City gestures to supporters after a English Premier League match against Arsenal in London on 2 February 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / David Cliff)</em></p>\r\n<h4><b>Sweet revenge</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the two teams tussled back in September, one player in particular was the victim of City’s braggadocio. After telling Arteta to stay humble, Haaland was confronted by a couple of Arsenal players. One of them was the Gunners’ academy product, Myles Lewis-Skelly. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The teenager bore the brunt of Norwegian Haaland when he tried to confront the striker at the end of that two-all stalemate, with the Norwegian barking “Who the f**k are you?” at the teenager. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lewis-Skelly scored one of Arsenal’s five goals at the Emirates and did the unthinkable as he mimicked Haaland’s signature scoring celebration. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For his overall performance he earned the praise of his manager, Arteta. The former Arsenal midfielder said Lewis-Skelly showed “personality and scored a beautiful goal”. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Arteta also expressed some disappointment with the 18-year-old’s celebration after he had scored. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s down to the players, but they know my view on it and we have to focus on us,” Arteta said about the celebration. “We have to focus on us and leave anything that happens [on the field]. It’s part of the game on the pitch. Whatever happens there, we’ve been in football a long time, just leave it there. There’s nothing there to do.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite their emphatic win over City, the Gunners still trail log leaders Liverpool by six points. The Reds have also played one less game than Arteta’s team. City, on the other hand, are fifth and fighting for a top-four finish against the likes of Chelsea and Newcastle United.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2575438\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12784190.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2287\" height=\"1438\" /> <em>Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on the touchline during a UEFA Champions League match against Club Brugge in Manchester on 29 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Adam Vaughan)</em></p>\r\n<h4><b>Real challenge</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Haaland uttered his now infamous words to Arteta early this season no one could have predicted that they would come back to bite him and City as emphatically as they have. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At that time no one knew just how much City would struggle in their league title defence. The Manchester club has already lost seven matches this season. They lost only eight in their past two Premier League seasons combined.</span>\r\n\r\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2575437\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12784002-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> <em>Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta before a UEFA Champions League match against Girona at Montilivi Stadium in Catalonia, Spain, on 29 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Siu Wu)</em></p>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We have a duty to learn and there are always margins to get better. It’s happened all season, we are giving away too many things. We are aware this cannot happen, but it happened,” Guardiola said of City’s woes this season.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hopes of any respite have been extinguished as City’s poor form has seen them paired with reigning European champions Real Madrid in the </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-30-liverpool-and-barcelona-lead-the-charge-in-exhilarating-new-look-champions-league/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Champions League</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> round-of-16 qualification playoffs. Only the top eight teams in the 36-team league phase guaranteed themselves passage to the last 16. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 16 teams that finished between ninth and 24th will have to fight it out for a place in the round of 16 via a playoff phase. City, who finished a lowly 22nd on the log, were paired with Real, who also finished outside the top eight. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the form they have displayed this season, Guardiola’s men will head into that game as underdogs. The first leg takes place on 11 February and the second on 19 February. </span><b>DM</b>",
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"description": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the English Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City came to a conclusion, with a humiliating 5-1 defeat for the defending champions, Arsenal’s DJ at the Emirates could not help playing Be Humble by US rapper </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-03-in-pictures-the-2024-grammys-belonged-to-beyonce-kendrick-lamar/?dm_source=dm_block_grid&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=maverick-life\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kendrick Lamar</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What was the significance of the Emirates Stadium’s resident DJ blasting the song by the multiple Grammy winner? </span>\r\n<h4><b>Humility</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In September 2024, when the Manchester side and Arsenal clashed for the first time in the 2024/25 league campaign, City striker Erling Haaland went on to tell Arsenal manager: “Stay humble, eh. Stay humble.” </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The fiery contest ended 2-2, with Arsenal exposing some frailties that have </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-13-manchester-city-faces-uphill-battle-as-guardiola-struggles-to-revive-their-title-defence/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">haunted City</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for much of this season.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Of course, in the previous two seasons the Gunners fell marginally short of clinching the league title – with City manager Pep Guardiola denying his disciple and good friend Mikel Arteta the honour of leading Arsenal to their first league crown since 2004.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though Arsenal are once again second-best on the log table, this time to Arne Slot’s Liverpool (surprisingly), the Gunners unleashed all the anger and disappointment of seasons past in front of their adoring fans at the Emirates with this weekend’s pummelling of the English champions. </span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2575441\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2575441\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12793891-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Manchester City\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> <em>Erling Haaland of Manchester City gestures to supporters after a English Premier League match against Arsenal in London on 2 February 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / David Cliff)</em>[/caption]\r\n<h4><b>Sweet revenge</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the two teams tussled back in September, one player in particular was the victim of City’s braggadocio. After telling Arteta to stay humble, Haaland was confronted by a couple of Arsenal players. One of them was the Gunners’ academy product, Myles Lewis-Skelly. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The teenager bore the brunt of Norwegian Haaland when he tried to confront the striker at the end of that two-all stalemate, with the Norwegian barking “Who the f**k are you?” at the teenager. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lewis-Skelly scored one of Arsenal’s five goals at the Emirates and did the unthinkable as he mimicked Haaland’s signature scoring celebration. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For his overall performance he earned the praise of his manager, Arteta. The former Arsenal midfielder said Lewis-Skelly showed “personality and scored a beautiful goal”. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But Arteta also expressed some disappointment with the 18-year-old’s celebration after he had scored. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s down to the players, but they know my view on it and we have to focus on us,” Arteta said about the celebration. “We have to focus on us and leave anything that happens [on the field]. It’s part of the game on the pitch. Whatever happens there, we’ve been in football a long time, just leave it there. There’s nothing there to do.”</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite their emphatic win over City, the Gunners still trail log leaders Liverpool by six points. The Reds have also played one less game than Arteta’s team. City, on the other hand, are fifth and fighting for a top-four finish against the likes of Chelsea and Newcastle United.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2575438\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2287\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2575438\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12784190.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2287\" height=\"1438\" /> <em>Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on the touchline during a UEFA Champions League match against Club Brugge in Manchester on 29 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Adam Vaughan)</em>[/caption]\r\n<h4><b>Real challenge</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Haaland uttered his now infamous words to Arteta early this season no one could have predicted that they would come back to bite him and City as emphatically as they have. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At that time no one knew just how much City would struggle in their league title defence. The Manchester club has already lost seven matches this season. They lost only eight in their past two Premier League seasons combined.</span>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_2575437\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"2560\"]<img class=\"size-full wp-image-2575437\" src=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/12784002-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" /> <em>Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta before a UEFA Champions League match against Girona at Montilivi Stadium in Catalonia, Spain, on 29 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Siu Wu)</em>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“We have a duty to learn and there are always margins to get better. It’s happened all season, we are giving away too many things. We are aware this cannot happen, but it happened,” Guardiola said of City’s woes this season.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hopes of any respite have been extinguished as City’s poor form has seen them paired with reigning European champions Real Madrid in the </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-30-liverpool-and-barcelona-lead-the-charge-in-exhilarating-new-look-champions-league/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Champions League</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> round-of-16 qualification playoffs. Only the top eight teams in the 36-team league phase guaranteed themselves passage to the last 16. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 16 teams that finished between ninth and 24th will have to fight it out for a place in the round of 16 via a playoff phase. City, who finished a lowly 22nd on the log, were paired with Real, who also finished outside the top eight. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the form they have displayed this season, Guardiola’s men will head into that game as underdogs. The first leg takes place on 11 February and the second on 19 February. </span><b>DM</b>",
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Erling Haaland of Manchester City gestures to supporters after a English Premier League match against Arsenal in London on 2 February 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / David Cliff)
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola on the touchline during a UEFA Champions League match against Club Brugge in Manchester on 29 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Adam Vaughan)
Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta before a UEFA Champions League match against Girona at Montilivi Stadium in Catalonia, Spain, on 29 January 2025. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Siu Wu)