There was a lot of debate about whether Erling Haaland’s late goal in Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday night, so the Premier League made a statement. The Norwegian had already scored earlier in the game to give Pep Guardiola’s team a win on his return from injury, so he didn’t understand why he couldn’t celebrate a second.
A lot of people were confused online at first because some stories said the on-field decision was “no handball.” But VAR later reversed it, even though they said there wasn’t enough proof to get rid of the goal. Some people were confused by the controversy, but the Premier League has since tried to clear things up. This came after Haaland openly criticised the decision, saying that the ball should have hit a few raised arms before going into the goal. He said (see below for his talk and the event):
“It’s clear that I think it’s the wrong choice.” He made the call on the pitch, which is partly why he stuck with it even though it was more of a penalty… But I never think that should be against the law…”
"It was a great goal though, so, sad" 😅
Erling Haaland talks to the panel about his disallowed goal, feeling it was 'more a penalty' than handball from himself.
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/AVBcxQHF2B
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 26, 2025
Why Erling Haaland Was Denied Second Goal
The confusion has since been cleared up
After some time, the Premier League made it clear that the judge did, in fact, call handball, even though the scoreboards didn’t show it, so fans in the stadium and people watching at home didn’t know. This is what the message sent to X said:
“The referee’s call of no goal for a handball by Haaland was checked and confirmed by VAR – with no conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field decision.”
#TOTMCI – 90+4’
The referee’s call of no goal for a handball by Haaland was checked and confirmed by VAR – with no conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field decision.
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) February 26, 2025
This gives Haaland, who won the Golden Boot the last two years, 20 Premier League goals for the season, even though Man City is having a slow time in their quest for a trophy.
He is still five goals behind the league’s top scorer, Mohamed Salah. Salah is pulling away from Liverpool, who beat Newcastle 2-0 later that night and are now trying to win their 20th League title.
