New footage shows when referee blew whistle to stop Man City attack vs Spurs | OneFootball

Manchester City's meeting with Tottenham Hotspur this week was one for the ages as the two sides faced off in a back-and-forth affair. The Premier League match, which saw both teams take the lead at different moments throughout, finished 3-3, and it was a very entertaining game of football. It ended in controversy, though, as Simon Hooper halted a City attack that looked almost certain to bring about a winning goal for the team.

After Erling Haaland was fouled, the referee initially played advantage, and he made the most of it, playing a ball over the top of the Spurs defence. He found Jack Grealish, who burst through into a one-on-one situation with Guglielmo Vicario and was almost certain to hit the back of the net. Shockingly, though, Hooper then decided to reverse his original decision and pull things back for the earlier foul, despite City having the advantage.

The moment sent the whole home team into a frenzy, with many losing their cool and confronting the officials angrily. Haaland in particular was furious and showed as much through his actions at full time and on social media after the game. It's hard to blame them, though, with the decision a bizarre one and now footage of the exact moment he blew the whistle has surfaced online and it only makes the moment look worse.

Hooper waited until Grealish was through on goal to blow the whistle

After the game, Roy Keane, Micah Richards and Jamie Carragher discussed the moment in the Sky Sports studio and the footage was eventually shared on social media, showing when Hooper blew the whistle. It makes the moment even more bizarre as he clearly decides to let play continue following the foul.

You can see him contemplate blowing for the foul, but allowing Haaland to continue once he's back on the ball. He then blows for the foul once Grealish has found himself through on goal with no one but Vicario to beat. It's a mind-boggling decision and one that likely denied the Cityzens from winning the contest. The players weren't the only ones shocked, though, as Pep Guardiola has now spoken out about the incident.

Pep Guardiola is confused about the decision

Speaking shortly after the game, Guardiola was unsurprisingly asked about the incident but was pretty cagey with his response. He decided to hold back but stressed how he couldn't quite understand what the referee was thinking when he decided to blow his whistle and halt the attack.

He's certainly not the only one who doesn't understand and unless we get an explanation from Hooper himself, it seems highly likely that we never will.