Erling Haaland would have been delighted after Manchester City beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 as his return from a knee injury was followed by a winning goal.
Haaland replicated Ruud van Nistelrooy against Tottenham by becoming only the second player in Premier League history to have scored 20 goals in his first three seasons as well.
Erling Haaland took his finish well by placing the ball first-time into the bottom corner past Guglielmo Vicario — as he now has 28 goals to his name in all competitions this season.
| COMPETITION | ERLING HAALAND’S GOALS |
| PREMIER LEAGUE | 20 |
| CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | 8 |
| FA CUP | – |
| CARABAO CUP | – |
The Norwegian could have bagged a brace in the first half had he not tamely struck the ball from close quarters, which was saved by Vicario in excellent fashion.
Haaland was visibly disappointed against Liverpool and ultimately, he will not have many regrets after a fruitful day at the office for him and his City side against Tottenham.
But the Manchester City phenomenon might be frustrated about something that went against him.
Erling Haaland blames VAR for disallowing his goal during Tottenham vs Man City
Haaland scored a late goal against Tottenham after a terrific bit of play between him and Phil Foden that was disallowed as it seem to strike his arm and eventually given as a handball.
But further replays showcased that it was inconclusive whether the ball hit the star striker’s arm or his chest as he went on to bundle away his finish past Vicario.
After Manchester City defeated Tottenham, while Haaland admitted officials can mistakes and it is no big deal, in his eyes, VAR had a howler by disallowing his goal.
Haaland said via Football Daily: “Yeah, it’s because he made a decision on the pitch. There was a free-kick, I don’t think it is. I think it’s clearly a big mistake, but we’re humans, we do mistakes.”
“I think it was a great goal and I don’t think it’s a handball at all. For me, I think it’s more of a handball than the defender [Kevin Danso], but what can we do? We won, I’m happy.”
As Haaland stated, he is happy about the victory and perhaps one real positive for him will be his link-up with Jeremy Doku as the pair combined for Manchester City’s deciding goal.
Why Haaland’s goal for Man City vs Tottenham was disallowed
However, in the future, City will be hoping that such incidents do not affect them.
Considering the evidence on display was not clear and obvious, it always becomes complicated to make a final call on such decisions.
But the Premier League Match Centre’s official verdict was that they decided to stick with the referee’s call due to being unsure about whether the ball really struck Haaland’s arm.
“The referee’s call of no goal for a handball by Haaland was checked and confirmed by VAR – with no conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field decision.”
At the end of the day, the decision did not impact the final result.
However, perhaps it would be wiser to give the attacker the benefit of the doubt in such situations as he has done the hard work to score the goal and there looks to be no rhyme or reason to disallow it.
