'I would be fuming' - Man City's Erling Haaland makes honest admission over Nathan Ake goal vs Fulham

Erling Haaland admits he would have been 'fuming' had Manchester City been on the wrong end of Nathan Ake's controversial goal against Fulham on Saturday.

City continued their perfect start to the Premier League season with a thumping 5-1 win at home to Marco Silva's side. Haaland netted his first hat-trick of the campaign, following first-half goals from Julian Alvarez and Nathan Ake.

However, Fulham were left frustrated by the latter effort in which Ake headed in a corner during added-time. The Cottagers' defence had pushed up, leaving Manuel Akanji offside, and the City defender jumped over the ball before it rippled the net.

The majority of those inside the Etihad expected the goal to be chalked off, but a lengthy VAR review adjudged it to have been fair and Michael Oliver gave the goal. Fulham boss Silva was fuming with the decision and Haaland had sympathy for his opponents.

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"It was the perfect end of the week," Haaland admitted after the match. "It's good to be back. In the end we win 5-1 and it's well deserved.

"I think it was offside as well, I feel bad for them, I would be fuming after this as well. It must be a horrible feeling for them.

"Last year was also difficult to start but we've been taking more points now. In the end, it's been a perfect start because we've won four games, but we have a much higher level and it's about working towards that."

Former referee Mike Dean was equally sure about the mistake, telling Soccer Saturday it was '1,000 per cent' offside.

"The goalkeeper can't go straight away because he has to wait and when he does move, it's too late," he said. "The player has to be interfering.

"It's 1,000 per cent offside. It's just