Manchester City’s gunner Erling Haaland couldn’t come up with the name of referee Simon Hooper after Sunday’s English league hit against Tottenham (3:3), whom he also criticized on the X social network after the match. The referee interrupted the action in the fourth minute of regulation when Jack Grealish ran with the ball alone at the goalkeeper, for which the protesting “Citizens” players subsequently fell on the referee. According to British media, Haaland could face additional punishment from the Football Association.
Haaland was all the more upset because he was the central figure of the whole event. He first made a sharp tackle at the center circle, for which Hooper signaled City’s advantage. Subsequently, the Norwegian striker from the turn found the onrushing Grealish precisely and he could run alone to the goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario with a big lead over the defending players. But at that moment, after a few seconds, Hooper returned to the previous foul and broke the game.
Haaland received a yellow card for his protests and the referees heard harsh words from him even after the final whistle. After the match, the Premier League’s best scorer shared a video of the entire event on the X social network, to which he added the abbreviation “wtf”, which in online communication means an expressive expression of astonishment.
— Erling Haaland (@ErlingHaaland) December 3, 2023
On the contrary, both coaches tamed their emotions at the press conference. “Erling is a bit disappointed. That’s normal. Even the referee himself, if he played for Manchester City today, would be angry after the whistle,” said Manchester coach Pep Guardiola. “I don’t want to criticize the referee. I wouldn’t say that today we only take a point because of this situation,” he added.
The defending champions drew for the third time in a row and are third in the table. They led twice at home against Tottenham, the visitors’ midfielder Dejan Kulusevski completed the score of an attractive duel in the 90th minute.
“I don’t think that the situation at the end should be the main topic of today’s match. It was above all great football, that’s what I would focus on,” said the manager of the London team Ange Postecoglou, whose wards are in fifth place.
2023-12-04 11:26:15
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