‘He’s so real’, ‘VAR in the mud’ – Man City fans react as as Haaland gives refreshingly honest interview after controversial goal vs Fulham

Erling Haaland admitted he would have been ‘fuming’ if Manchester City had been on the wrong end of their controversial second goal against Fulham.

Haaland was the star of the show, again, for Manchester City this weekend, scoring a hat-trick at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon as the champions kept their 100% record in the Premier League alive, brushing aside Fulham in a 5-1 demolition job.

With the score level at 1-1, Nathan Ake put Pep Guardiola’s side ahead with a header, though many expected it to be ruled out for offside.

Fulham’s defensive line had moved up, leaving Manuel Akanji offside as the defender jumped over the ball before it hit the back of the net.

Referee Michael Oliver awarded the goal in a decision which was not overturned by VAR, leaving Fulham players and boss Marco Silva fuming – as City then went on to run away with a dominant victory.

Considering that the scoreline was so vast between the two sides, it would have been very easy for Haaland to steer clear of the controversy over City’s second of the match, where Bernd Leno’s judgment of Nathan Ake’s powerful header was affected by Manuel Akanji’s presence from an offside position, which was adjudged to have not been offside by the VAR officials.

However, Haaland did everything but steer away from the controversy when asked about the situation in his post-match interview, refreshingly agreeing with the aggrieved opposition, saying: “Yeah, I think it was offside as well; I feel bad for them [Fulham], I would be fuming after this as well; it’s how it is; must be a horrible feeling for them.”

These Haaland’s comments shared on Twitter gathered a number of replies from a wide range of Man City supporters.

@citizenpeco: “He’s so real. How can anyone hate this guy?”

@slxvxid: “Give him a fair play award”

@FarahConnection: “That’s so nice to accept it! I don’t think other team players or their fans will ever acknowledge if it’s offside .”

@Joshua_MCI: “Fair play for admitting it but don’t forget that these decisions sometimes go against us”

@milanmahat: “Rashford interference was more offside than this.”

@FPLgalaxyzm: “VAR in the mud”

@FPL_Instinctive: “You have to respect the honesty. I can’t imagine many people think it wasn’t offside if you think about it objectively.”

@igbega_philips: “I love it when players are honest. It’s not Man City’s fault the goal stood, but there’s no need to lie and say they think it should’ve stood when it was unfairly awarded
class from him.”