Manchester City V Fulham: Pictures
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland believes that Fulham should be ‘fuming’ at a contentious VAR call which allowed Nathan Ake’s goal to stand on Saturday. The Norwegian’s eye-popping admission comes after he bagged a hat-trick in a 5-1 win against the Cottagers, preserving the Sky Blues’ perfect start to the season.
Julian Alvarez and Tim Ream were the first players on the scoresheet, with the contest finely poised at 1-1 by the time Ake headed City in front at the Etihad Stadium.
As the clock ticked towards 50 minutes, Phil Foden whipped in a left-footed corner which was nodded down by Ake and into the bottom corner. The point of contention stems from Manuel Akanji standing in an offside position and interfering with goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s line of vision.
The on-pitch officials and those on VAR duty all decided that the goal should stand, much to the bemusement of Fulham’s players and staff.
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Haaland added fuel to the flames after the final whistle by admitting that he, too, was perplexed. “I think it was offside as well,” he told beIN Sports. “I feel bad for them. I would be fuming if I was them. It must be a horrible feeling.”
The striker’s scoring rampage did not start until the 58th minute, but he had added three goals to his haul by the end of the game, taking this season’s tally to six in four matches.
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Haaland is therefore on course to challenge last campaign’s record-breaking personal total of 36 Premier League goals, putting him alone at the top of the all-time charts for a single season.
City have now won four matches from a possible four in the Premier League, kick-starting their treble defence in ideal fashion. Pep Guardiola’s side also defeated Sevilla on penalties last month to bank early silverware with the UEFA Super Cup.
On City’s goal that was allowed to stand, Fulham boss Marco Silva said: “That moment made a huge impact. Everyone that plays football, has some knowledge about football, are 100 per cent sure they have to disallow that. It’s impossible not to. It’s a clear offside, it concerns us how that goal was not disallowed.
“The more you times you see that moment, the more sure you are to disallow it. Our players saw it, everyone on the pitch at that moment has the same opinion.”
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