ERLING HAALAND has been transformed into a meme by rival fans after a photo of his meltdown went viral.
The striker was apoplectic after referee Simon Hooper blew his whistle for a foul instead of allowing play to continue with Jack Grealish through on goal in the last minute against Tottenham.
The match ended 3-3 and an incensed Haaland remonstrated with the ref before taking to Twitter to question the decision.
Haaland went on social media immediately after the match to vent his frustrations but by that time he was already a meme.
A photo of his raging face quickly circulated as cheeky fans began to superimpose it over famous artwork and already existing memes.
One fan added Haaland’s face to Edvard Munch’s famous ‘The Scream’ painting while another photoshopped his face into an infamous meme from reality TV show ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
Another got into the Christmas mood by pasting Haaland’s face onto Kevin McCallister’s from Home Alone, while another reimagined a famous internet meme from earlier this year of a woman who went viral for her loudmouth antics on board an American Airlines flight.
Haaland saw the funny side and responded to The Scream meme saying: “Wtf that made me smile for the first time today.”
Haaland, 23, could be hit with an FA charge following his conduct towards the referee.
The striker blew his top at Hooper and, before storming down the Etihad tunnel, he fired an F-word rant at Giovani Lo Celso after the Spurs scorer barged into him at full-time.
Most read in Football
FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS & NEW CUSTOMER BONUSES
Haaland later posted a clip of the incident on Twitter, saying: “WTF”, an abbreviation for ‘What the f***’ which could land him in hot water with the FA.
But Pep Guardiola, whose team conceded a 90th-minute leveller, bit his tongue and said: “Next question. I will not do a Mikel Arteta comment.
“On the touchline sometimes I lose my mind and my gestures aren’t proper. But here normally for many years as a manager I’m not a guy to comment.
“It surprised me because when Erling went down, if you whistle in that moment it’s fine.
“But he stands up and continues and the referee in that moment makes that gesture to ‘play on, play on’.
“And after Erling makes the pass he then stops the game.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
