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Football

Erling Haaland Criticizes Referee Following Man City’s Draw with Tottenham

Referee Simon Hooper made some pretty shocking decisions during Manchester City’s latest face-off with Tottenham Hotspur, and Man City’s star player Erling Haaland didn’t hide his dismay. He criticizes Hooper on social media after visibly exploding during Sunday's dramatic match, which resulted in a 3-3 draw. The face-off between Man City and the Spurs was wild from the very start. It kicked off with Son Heung-min giving Tottenham an early lead, only to equalize the score three minutes later, by diverting Julian Alvarez's cross into his own net. Two more goals by Phil Foden and Jack Grealish followed, and Man City was in a 3-2 lead – until the very last minute. Dejan Kulusevski's 90th-minute header resulted in a draw, but the real shocker came when referee Simon Hooper stopped play with Jack Grealish clear on goal and fouled Haaland in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Haaland was visibly upset by these decisions and later commented on it by writing “wtf” on social media. Man City coach Pep Guardiola said that Haaland’s reaction was "normal", adding that everyone else would feel the same way in his place. “His reaction was the same for 10 players. The rules are you cannot talk with the referees or fourth officials so we should have had 10 players sent off today. He’s a little bit disappointed. Even the referee, if he played for Man City today he would be disappointed for that action,” said Guardiola.