Erling Haaland comments on Man City’s disallowed goal: ‘Award the goal and refrain from issuing red cards, it’s straightforward.’
Erling Haaland expressed that he believes the video assistant referee (VAR) should not have intervened in Manchester City’s controversially disallowed third goal against Liverpool on Sunday, which resulted in Dominik Szoboszlai receiving a red card.
A thrilling late shift at Anfield saw Haaland lead City to a vital 2-1 victory over Arne Slot’s squad, keeping the Premier League title race competitive.
Liverpool seemed poised to secure all three points thanks to Szoboszlai’s remarkable free kick before Haaland provided an assist and then scored a 93rd-minute penalty to narrow Arsenal’s lead at the top.
There was still time for Szoboszlai to be sent off following a late confrontation with Haaland, prompting the VAR to controversially disallow a late goal from Rayan Cherki and issue a red card to the Liverpool player.
<pWhen asked about the incident, Haaland told Sky Sports: "I think just for me, of course, the referee has to follow the rules, but this will give him three games. In the end, I feel bad for him because if he gets three games… Just give the goal and don't give red cards, simple as that. But I think it's the rules and this is just how it is."
City’s victory reduced Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table back to six points after Mikel Arteta’s side had extended their advantage to nine with a 3-0 win over Sunderland on Sunday.
A result other than a win for Pep Guardiola’s team would likely have dashed any hopes of them catching Arsenal.
“I feel the whole team knew before the game that if we lost this game, probably that the title race is over,” Bernardo Silva acknowledged. “They’re still in a much better position than us, but we felt like we needed to win this game. So obviously that puts us a bit closer.
“The hope is there. We’re going to fight until the end, but six points, it’s still six points. So we’re happy, but we need to do our job, keep doing our job, which we haven’t lately.”
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The win marked Manchester City’s first at Anfield since 2021. Sunday also represented the first occasion in 89 years that City has won consecutive league matches against Liverpool.
“It’s been quite frustrating at the beginning of the year because in my opinion, we didn’t do our job properly and we could be much closer to Arsenal,” Bernardo Silva remarked.
“But yeah, today very happy because as I said, one of the toughest places now, the toughest place to come in England and to get for me in nine seasons, the first win apart from the COVID year. So you must imagine how tough it is for to win here and I’m really happy.”
City will face Fulham in their next Premier League match on Wednesday, while sixth-placed Liverpool will visit Sunderland at the Stadium of Light the following day.
