Erling Haaland lost his head after a late Spurs equaliser consigned Manchester City to their worst run in the Premier League for six years.
Haaland was furious with referee Simon Hooper after the contentious reversal of a decision to play advantage when the City striker had slipped Jack Grealish clean through at 3-3 in stoppage time.
Haaland was fouled but quickly got up and played Grealish through on goal only for Hooper to pull play back and award a free-kick.
That decision left him and his team-mates incredulous with Haaland appearing to scream ‘F*** off! F*** off! towards Hooper, which consequently earned him a booking.
And the 23-year-old could find himself in further hot water with the Football Association after stating ‘what the f***’ in a social media post commenting on Hooper’s late call.
Manchester City players, led by Erling Haaland, complained after the referee blew up for a foul
Haaland was furious at referee Simon Hooper for failing to give City an advantage late on
The 23-year-old raged at the official after he stopped play to give the hosts a free-kick instead
He appeared to scream ‘F*** off! F*** off! towards Hooper, which saw him earn a yellow card
Jack Grealish was through on goal when referee Hooper called it back for the foul
Grealish questioned Hooper’s decision after he decided to stop play instead of playing on
Haaland took to X (formerly Twitter) to vent his frustration – but could be penalised by the FA
Alfie Haaland, the striker’s father, agreed that Hooper’s controversial decision was ‘terrible’
Mail Sport has launched a campaign to stop the abuse of referees at all levels of the game
The striker had a bust up with Tottenham’s Giovani Lo Celso as he stormed down the tunnel on an afternoon of acrimony at the Etihad Stadium that saw City go winless in three consecutive matches for the first time since 2017.
City boss Pep Guardiola refused to criticise Hooper. ‘I will not do a Mikel Arteta comment,’ he said, referring to the Arsenal manager’s outburst after their defeat at Newcastle United.
‘It is hard (to explain) when you review the image. The referee decides to blow the whistle after he has already said to play on.’
Last month, Mail Sport launched our Stop Abusing Referees campaign, urging authorities to clamp down on aggression towards officials.
On Sunday, a host of City’s stars angrily crowded Hooper, incensed by his decision. Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool have all been charged this year for failing to control their players during matches.
Guardiola added: ‘Erling’s reaction was the same as the other 10 players. The rules are you cannot talk with the referees or fourth officials so we should have had 10 players sent off.
‘He’s a little bit disappointed. Even the referee — if he played for Man City today he would be disappointed for that action.’
The Norwegian striker later took to X (formerly Twitter) after the match to simply post ‘Wtf’ in reference to the late incident at the Etihad.
His dad, former professional footballer and Man City star Alfie Haaland replied ‘Terrible’ in response to the post, but this led to a number of social media users being happy that the family were upset.
One wrote: ‘Father and son tears???? YESSSSS I LOVE THIS’, with a meme of a smiling Kylian Mbappe, while another added: ‘Father and son crying I’ve seen it all’, and a third said: ‘father and son tears, sign me up’.
In response to Alfie’s ‘Terrible’ line, one quick-witted user quipped ‘Just like his finishing today’.
Speaking on Sky Sports at the time of the incident, commentator Gary Neville said: ‘Oh no, oh no. Simon Hooper, he played on to start with, what’s he done there.
‘He did play the advantage that was real surprise, Haaland gets fouled and he lets that go a bit and then blows there. He see’s the pass, really strange one.’
Social media users were quick to roast Alfie and Erling Haaland for their reactions online
One social media user declared that Hooper’s decision was ‘absolutely atrocious officiating’
Manchester City were searching for a stoppage time winner after a pulsating 3-3 draw
Hooper initially appeared to play advantage after the foul on Haaland, but changed his mind
One social reaction accompanying a video of the incident read: ‘So Haaland was fouled, gets straight up and plays the ball with the advantage to Grealish who was then in the clear and Simon Hooper blows the whistle for the foul. Absolutely atrocious officiating.’
Tottenham shocked the hosts with an early goal through Son Heung-min, but Manchester City took a 2-1 lead into the break with a Son own goal and a strike by Phil Foden.
Giovani Lo Celso pulled the scores level in the 69th minute, before Grealish regained Man City’s lead ten minutes from time.
Dejan Kulusevski equalised for Spurs in the last minute of normal time at the Etihad, before the late drama including the referee blowing up at a bad time for the hosts.
