Could Haaland be punished for referee comment after City-Spurs decision?

Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur played out an exciting 3-3 game in the Premier League, but it wasn’t without some controversy.

Christmas Day may be three weeks away but the English Premier League continues to deliver us fans with footballing gifts week in, week out. The latest offering came on Sunday, as title favourites Manchester City were held at home by Ange Postecoglou’s inspired Tottenham Hotspur. There was so much to discuss in the game but one moment has had more tongues wagging than most: the moment when the referee, Simon Hooper, decided to blow for a foul when City had a great chance to win the game if advantage had been played. And Erling Haaland, who was fouled, could not hide his frustration.

We were into added-on time at the end of the match when the Norwegian striker was tripped just inside his own half. He brilliantly managed to get back on his feet quickly and whip a delightful pass into the path of Jack Grealish in behind the high Spurs line. Sprinting away one-on-one, it felt like there was going to be yet another twist in as twisty a game as we could have imagined. But the Englishman stopped running. The whistle had blown.

Could Hooper have let play go? Absolutely. And it did initially appear that he had. Well, the City players were incensed and surrounded the ref to make their feelings known. Those that were most vehement may be in line for some time out in the same way that Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk did for his on-field outburst after being sent off. Some commentators have suggested that the decision could have been influenced by one earlier in the game when home players complained that a foul should have been called instead of playing on.

Haaland, for his part, wasn’t done there. Taking to