Haaland blasts VAR as City beat Liverpool

• Manchester City came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield, with Erling Haaland assisting once and scoring the winner from the spot in stoppage time.
• VAR disallowed a late Rayan Cherki goal and upgraded Dominik Szoboszlai to a red card, a decision Haaland said should not have happened.
• City cut Arsenal’s lead at the top to six points, and Bernardo Silva said the squad felt defeat would have ended their title chances.

Erling Haaland said VAR should not have intervened in the incident that saw Manchester City’s late third goal ruled out and Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai sent off at Anfield.

City kept their Premier League title chase alive with a dramatic 2-1 win over Arne Slot’s side on Sunday, turning the game late after falling behind to a Szoboszlai free kick.

Liverpool looked set for three points after Szoboszlai’s strike, then Haaland set up the equaliser and converted a penalty in the 93rd minute to complete the turnaround.

In the closing moments, Cherki appeared to have added a third, only for VAR to step in. The review led to the goal being disallowed and Szoboszlai shown a red card for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity following a late tussle with Haaland.

Asked about the call, Haaland told Sky Sports: “I think just for me, of course, the referee has to follow the rules, but this will give him three games. In the end, I feel bad for him because if he gets three games… Just give the goal and don’t give red cards, simple as that. But I think it’s the rules and this is just how it is.”

City’s win reduced Arsenal’s advantage at the top of the table to six points after Mikel Arteta’s side had moved nine clear with a 3-0 win over Sunderland earlier on Sunday.

City players spoke openly about the stakes at Anfield. Bernardo Silva said: “I feel the whole team knew before the game that if we lost this game, probably that the title race is over. They’re still in a much better position than us, but we felt like we needed to win this game. So obviously that puts us a bit closer.

“The hope is there. We’re going to fight until the end, but six points, it’s still six points. So we’re happy, but we need to do our job, keep doing our job, which we haven’t lately.”

The result was City’s first league win at Anfield from 2021, and the first time they have won consecutive league games against Liverpool in 89 years.

Silva added: “It’s been quite frustrating the beginning of the year because in my opinion, we didn’t do our job properly and we could be much closer to Arsenal.

“But yeah, today very happy because as I said, one of the toughest places now, the toughest place to come in England and to get for me in nine seasons, the first win apart from the COVID year. So you must imagine how tough it is for to win here and I’m really happy.”

City play Fulham next on Wednesday. Liverpool travel to Sunderland the following day.