Haaland and Guardiola both had sympathy for Liverpool after incident which angered Gary Neville
Erling Haaland and Pep Guardiola both expressed sympathy with Dominik Szoboszlai after the Liverpool midfielder’s red card against Manchester City on Sunday.
In racing back to (unsuccessfully) try and prevent a long-distance Rayan Cherki effort from crossing the line, the Reds’ number 8 pulled the shirt of the Norwegian striker, with a VAR review leading to the goal being disallowed and the Hungary captain being sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO).
The 25-year-old will now be suspended for our match away to Sunderland on Wednesday night, and although the disallowed goal didn’t change the overall result at Anfield as the visitors won 2-1, two of the highest-profile figures from the Mancunian camp expressed their displeasure over how that incident transpired.
Haaland and Guardiola disagree with Szoboszlai red card
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Haaland felt sympathy for his former Red Bull Salzburg teammate as he said: “Of course the referee had to follow the rules but this will give [Szoboszlai] three games. In the end I feel bad for him because he gets three games [sic: DOGSO carries just a one-match ban].
“Just give the goal, don’t give a red card – simple as that. It’s the rules and it’s how it is. If Cherki just passed me the ball so I can score… but he didn’t want to, so that’s just how it is.”
Guardiola also felt that the Liverpool midfielder was hard done by, telling Sky Sports: “Common sense, no? We won the game, and now Szoboszlai cannot play.
“I know he pulled [Haaland], but how many pulls there are in a game that referees say, ‘Play on, play on, play on’ in this league. It’s always been like that, so give a goal. 3-1, Szoboszlai can play, and we are happy.”
Red card decision benefitted neither team at Anfield
Both teams would’ve preferred for no VAR intervention in that stoppage-time incident – Liverpool would’ve had Szoboszlai available for Wednesday night, while Man City would’ve had a goal difference boost as they chase down league leaders Arsenal.
On co-commentary for Sky Sports, Gary Neville was equally scathing as he raged: “Talk about a killjoy. They have just killed one of the great moments of the season [Cherki scoring from halfway]. It would make more sense to offset Szoboszlai’s and Haaland’s fouls and allow the goal to stand.”
As Dermot Gallagher explained, the officials were compelled to carry out due process as per the rulebook, but the way in which events played out still left a sour taste for both sides at Anfield yesterday.
Alas, Arne Slot is left having to rethink the right-back plan yet again for the Sunderland game – Szoboszlai had already been a placeholder in that position due to the injuries to Jeremie Frimpong, Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez, and his suspension now reduces our options even further.
When even the victors from yesterday were left bemoaning the process which led to the Hungarian’s red card, it ought to send a message to the sport’s rule-makers that either the law needs revising, or officials should be given more free rein to apply common sense for the greater good.
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