Erling Haaland launched a foul-mouthed tirade at referee Simon Hooper after Manchester City's dramatic 3-3 draw with Tottenham ended in anger and controversy at the Etihad Stadium.
Haaland led a furious protest when Hooper decided to withdraw play for a foul in the fifth minute of stoppage time, moments after appearing to play into the advantage when City striker Jack Grealish unleashed on goal.
The Norwegian - outraged as Hooper seemingly reversed his original decision and denied a scoring opportunity - stormed towards the referee, who was surrounded by an angry crowd of City players.
Haaland appeared to shout: "F- away! F- away!" at Hooper and was shown a yellow card for his troubles before being involved in a clash with Spurs players Giovani Lo Celso and Brennan Johnson at the final whistle as he launched another expletive-laden tirade.
City's number 9 later took to social media to further express his anger, posting "Wtf", meaning 'What the f-', to could end up in the Football Association.
City, who had come from behind to take the lead 2-1 and then 3-2 before Dejan Kulusevski plundered the equalizer in the 90th minute, were also at risk of being charged by the FA for failing to control his players had, given the way Hooper was confronted.
Why Haaland was so furious...
Haaland is fouled
The match has entered the fifth minute of stoppage time when, with the score at 3-3 after Dejan Kulusevski's late equalizer, Rodri plays a pass to Haaland. Emerson Royal, the Tottenham defender, slides in and catches Haaland with a poor swerving challenge.
Referee is going to stop the game
The tackle causes the Manchester City striker to briefly fall to his knees and at that moment Simon Hooper, the referee, looks ready to blow his whistle, stop play and award a free kick.
The story continues
Haaland stands up and the referee signals an advantage
Haaland has no intention of staying down and quickly jumps up and turns around. Hooper sees the Norwegian's reaction, resists blowing for the foul and then raises his arm, seemingly to indicate an advantage is being played. Seems like an excellent piece of office-bearing.
Grealish is released, but the referee gives a free kick
Haaland's clipped pass over the top is beautiful, releasing teammate Jack Grealish in front of three Spurs players, only for Hooper to inexplicably blow his whistle and call play back, abandoning what appeared to be his original decision to play in the to play advantage.
Grealish through on goal
Grealish appeared onside and through on goal, although it cannot be certain that the England midfielder would not have been caught. Asked after the match whether Spurs could get away with it in that case, Ange Postecoglou, the Spurs manager, admitted: "Yeah, I think so, mate."
Haaland anger
Haaland reacts angrily and charges towards Hooper to lead the investigation as other disbelieving City players, including Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic and Rodri, surround the beleaguered referee. Haaland is a picture of pent-up anger, unable to calculate the decision and roaring in Hooper's face. City's number 9 is shown a yellow card after shouting 'F- off!' seemed to shout. F- away!" at the referee. Haaland eventually walks away, but he is seen throwing his arms around in disgust at the decision as others continue the protest. Royal also receives a yellow card.
Haaland clashes with Spurs staff
Haaland had still not calmed down by the time the final whistle blew a few minutes later, and after Tottenham's Giovani Lo Celso bumped into him as he tried to leave the pitch, City's top scorer came out and was apparently seen he shouted, "F- You! F- you!" towards his opponent. There is a brief standoff with another Spurs player, Brennan Johnson, with Postecoglou at one point trying to move Haaland away.
Haaland would later express his anger on social media, posting the caption "Wtf" (short for 'What the f-') above a video of the incident on Twitter.
Guardiola: I won't do Arteta
Pep Guardiola warned he would not do a "Mikel Arteta" by verbally attacking the referees, as the Arsenal manager had done after his side's 1-0 defeat to Newcastle last month.
"Next question: I won't comment on Mikel Arteta," he said.
But the City manager insisted Haaland's reaction was "normal" in the heat of the moment and claimed Hooper would have been "disappointed" by the decision had he represented the club.
Guardiola also joked that if the rules banning players from challenging the referees had been applied correctly, 10 City players - all but the captain - should have been sent off.
"It's normal," Guardiola said. "Are [Haaland's] response was the same for [the other] 10 players. The rules are that you can't talk to the referees or fourth officials, so we should have sent ten players off the field today.
'He is [Haaland] a little disappointed. Even the referee - if he played for Man City today he would be disappointed with this action, that's for sure.
"It's difficult when you look at the image, the referee decides to blow his whistle after he has already said that we have to continue playing. The whistle follows after the pass, so I don't understand this action."
Guardiola said he was "surprised" Hooper had blown the whistle after initially signaling City an advantage.
"In that action it's football," he said. "I make mistakes, the players make mistakes. It surprised me because at that moment Erling went down for the action [Emerson Royal] if you whistle at that moment, it's fine.
"But if he gets up and continues and the referee makes that gesture of 'play on, play on' and after he [Haaland] makes the pass, he then stops the play. I don't want to criticize him.
"On the sidelines I sometimes go crazy and my gestures are not correct, but normally as a manager here for years I am not a man when I give fresh commentary. But I would say we didn't draw for that."
'He made a mistake, it's a bad decision
Ange Postecoglou admitted that Spurs might have been lucky when asked if his side "could get away with it" in that case. "Yeah, I think so, mate," said the Tottenham manager.
Hooper's decision was criticized by a number of former players. Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher claimed the referee had "panicked" while Micah Richards said the decision was difficult to fathom.
"The referee has played a brilliant game so far today," said the former City defender. "I don't understand. He puts the whistle to his mouth, waves it, but stops to play an advantage. Grealish is clearly ready, but then he stops the play, which I just don't understand.
"The evidence is there for all to see. He didn't blow it the first time, but then Grealish finishes and blows it to stop the game. He cost him a one-on-one chance with the goalkeeper."
Roy Keane, the former Manchester United captain, claimed City should have been more frustrated with Tottenham's equaliser. "He made a mistake," Keane said.
"There's been a few today. It's a bad decision, he played an advantage and gives him credit for it, but then he stopped it and made a mistake. It's a bad decision, but City should be the crucial player to let Spurs off the hook."
It was a clear mistake, but that does not condone Haaland's behavior
I tried to find a reason why Simon Hooper quit the game and couldn't see one. I think it was just a straight up mistake that he'll kick himself for.
He clearly gave a lead, leaving Man City free to attack and then bringing it back. I saw no reason to stop the game. When a player has committed a foul, he is sometimes left on the ground, and there is always a risk of confrontation between the fouled player and the fouled player. That turned out not to be the case.
We are not aware of what the referee has in his ears. Did someone shout 'offside' at Stockley Park? At first I thought he got a beep from the assistant, but there's no flag.
Hooper played a relatively good game. It suited his style, he likes to keep it calm and apply advantages to keep the game flowing. Could he be tired? I do not think so. You may have a loss of concentration towards the end of a match, but professional referees should be able to keep it up comfortably for another half hour.
It seems to be just a small loss of confidence. It's a bad piece of office-holding and at the elite level you have to be better than that.
It was a big mistake, but it does not condone the behavior of Erling Haaland, who was quite aggressive and continued as he left the field. You have to say that when a player raises his hands at the referee, as happened here, it is surprising if there is no red card.
The Football Association will undoubtedly look into this and there is a good chance that Haaland will be charged with misconduct.
