Pep Guardiola takes a sly dig at Mikel Arteta after refusing to address late controversy which left Erling Haaland furious

The City-Spurs game ended at 3-3 draw.

Pep Guardiola takes a sly dig at Mikel Arteta after refusing to address late controversy which left Erling Haaland furious

Pep Guardiola refrained from commenting on the controversial incident. (Via The Sun and Sporting News)

Manchester City‘s manager, Pep Guardiola, subtly took a dig at his former right-hand man Mikel Arteta when asked about the controversial end to their game against Tottenham. He refused to give his take on the referee’s mistake.

In the recent match between Man City and Tottenham, there was a dramatic 3-3 draw with a lot of controversy. Referee Simon Hooper initially played advantage but later changed his decision to a free-kick, upsetting City players who felt Jack Grealish had a clear scoring opportunity. This led to Erling Haaland confronting Hooper, emphasizing the intense emotions of the game.

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After the game, when asked about the incident, Pep Guardiola skillfully avoided commenting directly. This move seemed to be a subtle response to Arsenal’s manager Mikel Arteta who recently criticized English refereeing. Arteta used strong words like ‘disgraceful’ and ’embarrassing’ after a contentious 1-0 loss to Newcastle.

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While Guardiola recognized the mistakes made by referees, he opted not to refrain from commenting, attributing the errors to common human slip-ups. Instead, he shifted the spotlight to praising his players for their excellent performance.

Next question. I will not do a Mikel Arteta comment. It is hard when you review the image, the referee decides to blow the whistle after he has already said to play on. Sometimes I lose my mind about the referees, but here no. People can make mistakes always.

Following the intense match, the defending champs will head to Birmingham to face 4th-placed Aston Villa, on Thursday. The team will be eager to overturn their fortunes in the Premier League this season as they slipped to the 3rd position on the table after three consecutive draws.

Manchester City forward Erling Haaland may face FA charges after his outburst on referee

The Norwegian forward Erling Haaland could potentially be charged by the English Football Association for screaming at referee Simon Hooper for an error, which impacted their chances of winning the match against Tottenham, at the Etihad.

Erling Haaland vs Tottenham
Erling Haaland vs Tottenham (via Times)

The hosts were visibly upset about a mistaken call by the match officials. In a bid for a winning goal, Jack Grealish had a good chance to score after a pass from Haaland. However, Harper stopped play for a free-kick, leading to Haaland confronting the referee, earning him a yellow card. Later, he clashed with Spurs midfielder Giovani Lo Celso and expressed frustration on social media with an image and caption ‘WTF.’ There’s a high chance Haaland may face consequences for his outburst. Additionally, Haaland missed a significant open-goal opportunity in the 13th minute.

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