December 04, (THEWILL) – Manchester City have been charged by the England Football Association (FA) for failing to ensure players maintained proper conduct during the added time of Sunday’s English Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur. City players, particularly Erling Haaland, fiercely protested when denied a chance to play advantage in the closing moments of the thrilling 3-3 draw after Haaland was fouled.
Haaland had shrugged off a challenge from Emerson Royal to play through Jack Grealish, but referee Simon Hooper pulled play back to award City a free-kick at the Etihad Stadium. Haaland continued voicing anger as he left the field but later criticised Hooper on social media.
City midfielder Bernardo Silva called Hooper’s decision “very bad” but stressed the team must improve finishing chances to win. City also blamed themselves for squandering chances in what could have been a comfortable victory, with Haaland among the culpable players failing to score.
An FA statement on Twitter confirmed the Etihad club has been charged with breaching Rule 20.1 regarding player conduct around match officials. Besides, Hooper is set to officiate Sheffield United versus Liverpool on Wednesday.
Haaland, on Monday, responded good-naturedly to a humorous social media post of himself edited into Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” painting, writing “…that made me smile for the first time today.” City had led 2-1 at half-time through Phil Foden but Spurs recovered through Giovani Lo Celso and Kulusevski’s dramatic equaliser late in the tie.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
