A magnanimous gesture by Manchester City’s goal-machine Erling Haaland left Pep Guardiola fuming on Saturday after the Norwegian striker ignored his manager’s orders to take a spot-kick and handed the ball to teammate Ilkay Gundogan.
After the German midfielder had scored a first-half brace to put the Premier League leaders 2-0 up against Leeds United, Guardiola yelled from the sidelines for Haaland to take the penalty they had been awarded in the closing minutes.
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But the 22-year-old Haaland, who has already scored a Premier League single-season record of 35 goals, glanced at Guardiola before handing the ball to Gundogan so that the German could complete a hat trick.
It was a move that sent the Spanish manager into fits of rage, especially as Gundogan’s effort was pushed aside by a diving Joel Robles.
“If Gundo scores everyone is ‘OK, hat trick, well done,'” Guardiola said following City’s 2-1 victory.
“But a taker is a taker. At 2-0, this is a business, not a situation where we cannot forget it.”
