Numerous Barca fans have slammed Manchester City forward Erling Haaland for committing a “shameless” dive that earned his team a last-minute penalty in their 3-3 friendly draw against Barcelona with the video viral
Man City secured a draw in a friendly against Barcelona thanks to a 99th minute spot kick by Riyad Mahrez. However, Manchester City won the penalty in a somewhat controversial style.
Erling Haaland Man City’s latest big signing won the penalty after he appeared to go down in the area despite receiving minimal contact from Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen.
Erling Haaland Pulls Off Dive Of The Season During Manchester City vs Barcelona Friendly Match To Win Penalty, Video Goes Viral
Dive of the season from Erling Haaland. What. Is. This? pic.twitter.com/n9bLgUorIk
— Sara 🦋 (@SaraFCBi) August 24, 2022
Haaland’s behavior stunned many fans, prompting them to give negative comments about the Norwegian’s theatrical actions.
How It Happened
Barcelona and Manchester City, were playing a friendly in aid of ALS awareness when the incident occurred. The awareness movement was in honour of former Barcelona goalkeeper and coach Juan Carlos Unzue, who was diagnosed with ALS two years ago.
Haaland’s actions further provoked fans due to delayed reactions in his contact with Christensen. Haaland looked back over his shoulder before falling to the turf, about three seconds after running past him. This was not able to convince fans about the genuinity of his fall.
Fan Reactions Against Haaland’s “Shameless” Dive
One fan wrote:
How on earth was that a pen?
While another fan wrote,
Haaland should have won a gold medal for that dive.
Another fan stated,
Nah, that dive from Haaland was just ridiculous.
Some fans simply labelled Haaland’s behaviour as “shameless”
Haaland wtf man, that’s the most shameless dive I’ve ever seen.”
One supporter suggested that the offence was worthy of a red card, while another ranted:
This is the reason why I hate this sport sometimes. Diving is not a strategy, it’s a disgrace.
Another reason why Haaland’s “shameless” dive annoyed Barcelona fans more was that the home fans had stood to applaud the £53m striker during the warm-up session.
A Barcelona fan asked
Is that what you get for applauding a player? What a dive by Haaland!
Goal Highlights From The Game
Overall, the game was action-packed, involving a six-goal thriller which started with Julian Alvarez’s opening goal. Former Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang then got one back, levelling the score, followed by a Frenkie de Jong goal to put the LaLiga giants ahead.
Cole Palmer struck back to make it 2-2 before Memphis Depay added a third for the Catalans with ten minutes left. After the ninety minute mark, there was a long stoppage time due to Luke Mbete’s clashing heads with Christensen.
It was during the stoppage time that Erling Haaland made sure City left with a draw by committing a “shameless” dive in the box. The referee pointed to the spot, and Mahrez stood up to slot a goal.
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