Pep Guardiola believes Erling Haaland is being unfairly punished by referees at set-pieces. The prolific striker was involved in a controversial incident in Manchester City’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle on Tuesday when an Antoine Semenyo goal was ruled out. Haaland stood in an offside position and was deemed to have interfered with play after a VAR review that delayed the game for five-and-a-half minutes.   Not only did City manager Guardiola not agree with that decision, but he feels the Norwegian is being singled out too often. Guardiola said, “He is the only striker in the world who makes more fouls than defenders do on him. That is his biggest attribute. That is really good. “He is the only striker in my life who makes more fouls on defenders than defenders to him. I’ve never seen this. “At the beginning of the season, the referee said it would be the opposite. But it is the opposite of that, honestly. “Have you seen what happens in the boxes, not just with Man City? When there are pushes and holding? “I don’t understand that (there) is never a foul every time. I don’t understand that every time Erling touches an opponent, it’s a foul from Erling.”

Haaland has scored 29 goals in 26 appearances for City this season, but only once – a penalty – in the last six. Guardiola believes he may be feeling the effects of the schedule, but is confident he will recover his sharpness. He said: “God bless that we have Erling in our team right now and all of the season. We are fortunate to have him, and without him, we would not be in the position we are in now. “He brings a lot and is getting better at many, many things. “There are a lot of games, and it is an incredible period for games. Every three days, there is a match; recovery is less with travel, tough conditions, and central defenders, who are tough. “It is difficult, but he’ll be back.” City are back in Premier League action on Saturday as they make the short derby trip to face rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford.