Erling Haaland did not hold back in his assessment of VAR after Manchester City were denied a late equaliser in Pep Guardiola's final match. City ended their campaign with a 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa after Phil Foden's late goal was chalked off.
Match Summary
Antoine Semenyo gave a much-changed City side the lead before an Ollie Watkins brace turned the game on its head. Guardiola, John Stones and Bernardo Silva were all saying goodbye to City, who failed to find an equaliser to end the season with a loss.
Watkins' winner was initially ruled out for offside before the VAR deemed that Ruben Dias had played the England striker on. And VAR was to rule in favour of Villa once more later on.
Foden smashed in via the underside of the crossbar to make it 2-2 in the last minute, only for his goal to be ruled out. The VAR graphic showed just how tight the decision was and, after Guardiola slumped back into his seat disappointed, Haaland picked up his phone to post on Instagram.
Haaland's Reaction
With nothing to play for and City assured of second place, the Norwegian goal machine was given the day off. But he did not take a day off from sharing his opinion. "Hmmm not sure," Haaland wrote as a caption to the offside call with a crying laughing emoji.
The Premier League match centre wrote on X: "VAR checked the referee's call of goal – and established that Foden was in an offside position and recommended that the goal was disallowed."
Emotional Farewells
There were tears for Silva, who was given a guard of honour after being substituted off, Stones, who also received an ovation, and for Guardiola, who ends a decade in charge of the club. The Catalan leaves having won 20 major trophies.
Given the microphone on the pitch after the final whistle, Silva said: "It's really tough to put into words my feeling toward Man City, towards you guys, because I don't think I will ever feel the same about another team in my life. The love I got from this club, from you guys, I doubt I will get it again. So thank you so much. All the memories we have together, with my brothers, with you, the staff, this is a family. It will forever be my family and I am really grateful."
Stones said: "I can't express my gratitude enough. To feel the love you have all given me over these 10 years, it's been a dream come true. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. It's been an honour to wear this shirt, to play for this club, it's been an absolute privilege. This will always be my home. I look forward to watching the games without all in the stands. From the bottom of my heart thank you so much for all the memories. I hope we made everyone's dreams come true."
But on the pitch at least, it was victory for Villa and goals for Watkins, who heads to the World Cup in good form. The result secured fourth place for Villa, who won the Europa League in mid-week to secure a first trophy for 30 years.
