‘I will not do a Mikel Arteta comment’ – Guardiola reacts to Haaland incident after Man City are held by Spurs

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola refused to criticise the referee despite a decision, involving Erling Haaland, potentially costing them points in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Tottenham.

The Citizens went behind early on to a Son Heung-min strike before the South Korean deflected the ball into his own net to give Guardiola’s side an equaliser.

Phil Foden and Jack Grealish twice put Man City ahead but strikes from Giovani Lo Celso and Dejan Kulusevski saw Tottenham take a point from the contest.

The game ended in controversy, and with Haaland fuming, after play was initially allowed to go on after the forward was fouled as he played Grealish in on goal before it was then called back.

Reacting to the decision, Guardiola said in his post-match interview: “Next question. I will not do a Mikel Arteta comment.

“It is hard when you review the image, the referee decides to blow the whistle after he has already said to play on. After the pass, the whistle, so I do not understand this action.

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“It was a good game, that is the most important thing. It was a pity, same as the Liverpool game, I had the feeling that today that we made an incredible performance in all departments, against a really good team and manager and how they play.

“We created a lot of chances, we were aggressive, incredibly concentrated, and the feeling is that we still want to be there [at the top of the table].

“It is a pity. Sometimes football is like life, you do not get what you deserve.”

Speaking to BBC Sport, Man City captain Ruben Dias added: “It’s a feeling of frustration, very similar to the Liverpool game. A game I would say we dominated the most part of it and in the end the draw was what we could get.

“Overall I can’t say I’m not happy with the performance of the team. Everyone was on it. The team was very aggressive. We were very sharp, we created the chances.

“Unfortunately we didn’t take the three points but I think it’ll be part of the consistency of being the team we are to keep moving forwards even though we didn’t get the three points today.”