Should Erling Haaland have been sent off? Manchester City star escapes with yellow against Everton

Erling Haaland should have been shown a red card in the first half of Manchester City's New Year's Eve clash with Everton, according to some social media users.

The Norwegian goal-machine nabbed yet another for his season's tally in the 24th minute, but 20 minutes later, he was issued with a yellow card for a reckless foul.

Haaland, 22, was cautioned after a sliding tackle with two feet off the ground, which left Toffees defender Vitalii Mykolenko on the floor.

And on social media, some fans watching the Saturday 3pm kick-off felt that the former Borussia Dortmund striker was lucky to remain on the pitch after bringing down the Ukrainian.

One tweet read: 'Red. Player completely off the ground and out of control of his body. Could [have] been a leg breaker.'

Another wrote: 'Red. Unnecessary and reckless. If this was a defender on an attacking player, wouldn't even be a question asked. Straight red.'

A third said: 'It was above the ankle with Mykolenko's foot off the ground already, he had little to no control going into it, whilst clearly being fired up beforehand. I don't think too many would argue against a red, change the colour of the shirts and it most likely would have been.'

However, not everyone feels that Haaland has escaped proper punishment for his tackle, with even one Everton fan backing the striker's caution. They tweeted: 'I’m a blue and I think it’s a yellow'.

Frank Lampard's Everton players remonstrated with referee Andrew Madley that it should have been on the receiving end of a stiffer punishment, but a yellow card was all that was brandished.

Former top-flight referee Peter Walton told BT Sport that the Man City striker was fortunate to remain on the pitch at the Etihad, but said tensions had been high since the Norwegian went down injured earlier in the match, before returning to his feet.

Walton said: 'This game has been simmering since Haaland got injured and since then Andy Madley has had a real hard time keeping control. It has this undercurrent.

'Haaland is going to be a very lucky man if he stays on the field because there’s a bit of frustration and he’s gone at speed, with force, probably hasn’t caught him but this looks a poor foul.

'All I said was Haaland would be a lucky man, having seen the replays it’s a yellow card but this game has an undercurrent and half-time comes at the right time for both teams.'

After the restart, Everton's Demarai Gray scored a 64th minute equaliser for the visitors, and the result means that Man City have dropped two points in their pursuit of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.