Manchester City endured a 3-3 draw against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. In what was supposed to be an easy win after yet another instrumental performance, Man City had to satisfy for a draw amidst controversial decisions.
Manchester was leading the game 3-2 till the 90th minute until Kulusevski scored the eventual equalizer in the dying minutes. City was about to score the winner which was eventually declined by Simon Hooper. The hosts had played an advantage in the closing minutes but the referee begged to differ thus raising eyebrows of many.
The incident took place in the 5th minute of injury time when Erling Haaland had sent Jack Grealish clear after losing his footing. The referee however interpreted in the game and blew his whistle to grant City a freekick.
Remonstrating the incident along with many Manchester City players, Haaland posted a clip of the incident on Social Media platform X, with the comment “WTF”.
Wtf that made me smile for the first time today https://t.co/36FdN4B5Xn
— Erling Haaland (@ErlingHaaland) December 4, 2023
Many pundits and former players openly criticized the call of Hooper.
“I think it is an absolute shocker. I do,” said Jermaine Jenas on the BBC. “I’m not sure what Simon Hooper is thinking. It’s clearly a mistake but it is a monster of a mistake in my opinion.”
Leon Osman, the fellow Englishman said: “It’s a huge mistake – there is no getting away from that with the technology we have but I have a slight bit of sympathy. He held his hands up straight away.
“But this one mistake is all that people will want to talk about.”
In an intense match like this, even the minute decisions matter. Manchester City are fighting to retain their pivotal spot in the table but presently stand third with 30 points only behind Arsenal (33 points) and Liverpool (31 points).
