Kevin De Bruyne accused of diving to win Erling Haaland’s Man City penalty vs Fulham | OneFootball

Erling Haaland scored a dramatic late penalty as Manchester City beat Fulham 2-1 with virtually the last kick of the game.

The prolific Norwegian striker was named among the substitutes by City boss Pep Guardiola after recovering from injury.

However, he was sent on with 25 minutes left on the clock, along with Phil Foden, as City went in search of a winning goal at the Etihad Stadium.

The hosts took the lead in the 17th minute thanks to a fine finish from Julien Alvarez, the Argentine forward who joined the Premier League champions from River Plate in the summer.

However, Fulham unexpectedly levelled the scores midway through the half after Joao Cancelo was shown a straight red card.

The Portuguese defender brought down Harry Wilson inside the box and, because he was the last man, received his marching orders from referee Darren England shortly afterwards.

Haaland thought he’d put City ahead with just under 20 minutes left to play when he headed Kevin De Bruyne’s cross past Bernd Leno.

However, the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.

Haaland wins it for City vs Fulham

Haaland did manage to score his 18th Premier League goal of a remarkable debut campaign with City, though, thanks to a controversial late penalty.

De Bruyne went down inside the box – somewhat theatrically, in the eyes of many football fans on social media.

Was a penalty the correct decision?

While you wouldn’t expect a player like De Bruyne to dive, many people think he did go to ground too easily on this occasion:

Haaland wins it for Man City

Haaland then made absolutely no mistake from the spot.

The result means City leapfrog Arsenal into first place in the Premier League table.

However, the Gunners will return to pole position if they defeat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday lunchtime.