The Barcelona vs Manchester City charity match on Wednesday night produced a thriller that went down to the wire and was decided by a controversial penalty.
WATCH: Erling Haaland’s ‘dive of season’ in Barcelona vs Manchester City charity match
The Barcelona vs Manchester City charity match on Wednesday night produced a thriller that went down to the wire and was decided by a controversial penalty. The match ended 3-3, with Man City’s Riyad Mahrez scoring a penalty in the 99th minute of the game after his teammate Erling Haaland seemingly produced the ‘dive of the season.’
Erling Haaland produces ‘dive of season’
As seen in the video below, Manchester City’s new signing Erling Haaland may have just produced the ‘dive of the season’ after going down to the ground following minimal contact from Barcelona defender Andreas Christensen. Fans were surprised to see the star-studded Norwegian striker go down in this fashion, as several took to social media to react to the incident as seen in the tweets below:
Barcelona vs Manchester City ends 3-3
Even though the Barcelona vs Manchester City clash on August 24 was a friendly, the match was not far away from a classic. Pep Guardiola’s side took the lead in the 21st minute of the match after Barcelona goalkeeper Inaki Pena failed to deal with a simple cross into the box, giving Julian Alvarez the chance to provide the finishing touch. Eight minutes later, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang found the back of the net for the home side after he converted Raphina’s free-kick at the near post.
While Manchester City were the dominant side in the rest of the first half and the beginning of the second half, it was Barcelona who got the lead when Frenkie de Jong found the back of the net in the 66th minute. However, it did not take long for the Citizens to strike back, as four minutes after, Cole Palmer scored a tap-in to equalize.
Barcelona regained the lead in the 79th minute of the match after Memphis Depay found the back of the net following some good work from Sergi Roberto. The match was then interrupted by a lengthy stoppage due to an injury to 18-year-old Manchester City defender Luke Mbete-Tabu.
Since the referee called for a stoppage time of 10 minutes as a result, it gave the Citizens enough time to equalize. It was at this time when Erling Haaland seemingly produced the ‘dive of the season,’ which resulted in a penalty that Riyad Mahrez scored in the 99th minute of the match.
