- Man City fans believe Erling Haaland was unfairly denied a pre-season goal
- His shot against Barcelona appeared to cross the line before being cleared
- He hardly reacted but fans were upset at the lack of goal-line technology
Manchester City fans are up in arms about Erling Haaland being ‘robbed’ of a goal during pre-season.
Pep Guardiola‘s side played out a 2-2 draw with Barcelona in Orlando, twice coming from behind, before losing 4-1 on penalties.
Haaland appeared to draw first blood just 10 minutes in after turning home a beautiful cross from Oscar Bobb, but there was no goal-line technology to confirm it after goalkeeper Inaki Pena scrambled the ball away. No goal was given.
It means City are still winless in pre-season after losing to Celtic and AC Milan – and City fans are furious.
‘How did it happen? ROBBED us our goal!!! Oscar Bobb assist to Erling Haaland,’ wrote one fan on X, formerly Twitter.
Manchester City fans have complained that Erling Haaland was ‘robbed’ of a goal in pre-season
The ball appeared to cross the line but nothing was given as Inaki Pena scrambled it away
‘Haaland’s disallowed goal. Shocking,’ said another.
‘That was completely in for a second, pre-season shenanigans,’ one said.
‘100 (per cent) crossed the line,’ another commented.
‘Haaland robbed of a goal,’ one insisted.
Yet some on social media were sniggering at Haaland’s deprivation.
‘Yeah we miss VAR and goal-line technology,’ wrote one Manchester United fan sarcastically.
City were forced to come from behind twice against Barcelona, who played for the first time under Hansi Flick.
Pau Victor slid Barca ahead after 24 minutes, having charged into the space vacated by Josko Gvardiol, before 19-year-old Nico O’Reilly restored parity six minutes before half-time.
City are still winless after three pre-season games, having lost to AC Milan and Celtic
Hansi Flick (right) secured a win on penalties in his first friendly in charge of Barcelona
A fantastic finish from Pablo Torre, firing low into the corner on the half-turn, put the Spanish side ahead on the brink of half-time.
That left Pep Guardiola’s men with work to do after the break and up stepped the day’s captain Jack Grealish, finishing off a rapid counter-attack driven by Mateo Kovacic.
In the shoot-out, Kalvin Phillips and Jacob Wright were the unlucky souls to have their efforts spurned.
While Amar Fatah converted his effort, it was not enough as City fell to a 4-1 shoot-out loss.
