City charged over ref rumpus

Manchester city have been charged by the Fa for failing to control their players after referee simon hooper’s mistake at the end of sunday’s dramatic 3-3 draw with tottenham. several city stars, including an irate erling haaland, surrounded the official after he reversed his decision to play advantage as Jack Grealish bore down on goal. haaland will not be punished for his social media post saying ‘what the f***’ after being shown a replay of the incident, but city are in the dock for the third time in 12 months. they have three days to respond to the charge before it is heard by an independent panel. a hefty fine is expected. city were handed a £75,000 punishment in February after two incidents during their victory over arsenal. The Gunners were fined £65,000, with another £20,000 suspended, following that night and city’s fine for this indiscretion is expected to be higher. anthony taylor, who was referee for the arsenal fixture and fourth official on sunday, was the subject of a sarcastic barb from Pep Guardiola. taylor was labelled ‘the master of commander who knows everything,’ by the city boss. Guardiola did keep his counsel after the spurs draw though, shaking hooper’s hand and opting against remonstrating with the officials. and the catalan made a point of saying he would not be following arsenal boss Mikel arteta’s lead in becoming outspoken on refereeing decisions, while city as a club have also remained tight-lipped on hooper’s gaffe. But their players could not contain their anger, haaland storming down the tunnel after a third consecutive draw piled on the pressure ahead of tomorrow’s trip to aston Villa. Despite the controversy, Bernardo silva believes city only have themselves to blame for dropping more points.

‘it was a very tough one to take,’ admitted the midfielder. ‘We’ve conceded late goals against arsenal, chelsea, Liverpool and now tottenham.

‘it’s not just luck, it’s happened four times. We need to demand more from ourselves, each one of us. it’s seven points gone.

‘We could be four points clear at the top if we had done our job properly. if you don’t score goals, it will cost you games and points.’