MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has brushed off concerns regarding an assistant referee asking for Borussia Dortmund's star player Erling Haaland's autograph after the Champions League quarter-final first leg fixture came to an end.
City defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the first leg quarterfinal on Wednesday. However, a controversy erupted when an assistant referee went up to Haaland to ask for his autograph.
"They told me - I didn't see it. Maybe he's a fan of Haaland so why not? Maybe it was for his son and daughter. I've never seen it before but they did a good job," Goal.com quoted Guardiola as saying.
"The referees were brilliant, the game was not a problem so it's not a penalty after the VAR, people told me it was not a penalty. And after the Bellingham action, his leg is higher than expected so the linesman was perfect. It was not an influence like it was in the past," he added.
City had spent much of the quarter-final fixture ahead following Kevin De Bruyne's first-half goal, but the side was given a wake-up call in the 84th minute when Marco Reus levelled for the visitors.
In the end, Phil Foden rose to the occasion to give Manchester City a 2-1 win in the fixture. Both the sides will now take on each other in the second leg fixture on April 14.
Manchester City is also currently at the top of the Premier League standings and the side is 14 points ahead of the second-placed Manchester United.