Feb 8, 2026, 06:13 PM
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Erling Haaland has said that he does not think the video assistant referee (VAR) should have got involved in Manchester City's controversially disallowed third goal against Liverpool on Sunday which led to Dominik Szoboszlai being sent off.
A dramatic late turnaround at Anfield saw Haaland inspire City to a crucial 2-1 win over Arne Slot's team that kept the Premier League title race alive.
Liverpool appeared to be on course to earning all three points thanks to Szoboszlai's stunning free kick before Haaland claimed an assist and then a 93rd-minute winner from the penalty spot to reel in Arsenal's lead at the top.
There was still time for Szoboszlai to see red for a late tussle with Haaland which caused the VAR to controversially intervene to disallow a late goal from Rayan Cherki and send off the Liverpool man.
Dominik Szoboszlai was controversially sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity in the last moments of the contest. Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images
Asked for his thoughts on the incident, Haaland told Sky Sports: "I think just for me, of course, the referee has to follow the rules, but this will give him three games. In the end, I feel bad for him because if he gets three games... Just give the goal and don't give red cards, simple as that. But I think it's the rules and this is just how it is."
City's win cut Arsenal's lead at the top of the table back to six points after Mikel Arteta's had stretched their lead to nine with a 3-0 victory over Sunderland on Sunday.
Anything but a win for Pep Guardiola's team would likely have extinguished any hope of them overhauling Arsenal.
Dominik Szoboszlai looked to have scored Liverpool's winner with his stunning free kick but he was sent off in second half stoppage-time as Manchester City came from behind. Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images
"I feel the whole team knew before the game that if we lost this game, probably that the title race is over," Bernardo Silva admitted. "They're still in a much better position than us, but we felt like we needed to win this game. So obviously that puts us a bit closer.
"The hope is there. We're going to fight until the end, but six points, it's still six points. So we're happy, but we need to do our job, keep doing our job, which we haven't lately."
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The win was Manchester City's first at Anfield since 2021. Sunday marked the first time that City have won back-to-back league games against Liverpool for 89 years.
"It's been quite frustrating the beginning of the year because in my opinion, we didn't do our job properly and we could be much closer to Arsenal," Bernardo Silva said.
"But yeah, today very happy because as I said, one of the toughest places now, the toughest place to come in England and to get for me in nine seasons, the first win apart from the COVID year. So you must imagine how tough it is for to win here and I'm really happy."
City face Fulham in their next Premier League fixture on Wednesday, while sixth-placed Liverpool travel to play Sunderland at the Stadium of Light the following day.