Haaland's penalty gesture made Guardiola irate

Erling Haaland, the prolific scorer for Manchester City, defied his manager's orders to take a penalty kick on Saturday by giving the ball to teammate Ilkay Gundogan instead, angering Guardiola in the process.

Guardiola yelled from the sidelines for Haaland to take the penalty they had been given in the waning seconds after the German midfielder had scored a first-half brace to give the Premier League leaders a 2-0 lead against Leeds United.

But before passing the ball to Gundogan so that the German could complete a hat-trick, 22-year-old Haaland, who has already set a Premier League single season record with 35 goals, gave Guardiola a quick glance.

The Spanish manager was furious at the action, especially since Gundogan's attempt had been blocked by a diving Joel Robles.

Following City's 2-1 victory, Guardiola remarked, "If Gundo scores, everyone is like, 'OK, hat-trick, well done.

A taker is a taker, though. With a score of 2-0, this is a business and not an emergency.

When Guardiola took the initiative, the 32-year-old Gundogan felt the heat.

"First he showed Erling that he was quite mad about that, and then he also he had a go at me," Gundogan said to BBC Sport. "In the end, it is what it is.

"I thought Erling was going to take the ball as soon as he grabbed it, but he protected me instead. I repeatedly double-checked with him to make sure he was certain. I could count on him to give the ball to me. I was sure I would succeed.

Haaland had a number of great scoring opportunities, including a shot that hit the crossbar and another that hit the post.

Guardiola's mood had slightly improved by the time he met with the media following the game because City was vying for their third consecutive Premier League championship and the victory had increased their advantage over second-place Arsenal to four points.

"The show was outstanding. The Spaniard, whose team has four league games left this season, said, "We played really, really well.

Who knows if Erling will take and miss the penalty? What happens if Gundo scores after taking the penalty? Who is the taker then, with a score of 2-0? Erling is the recipient.

"The second point is that Erling is a person who is like that. He is amazing and desires to score goals, but he also understands the value of the team and teammates. He had opportunities to score goals but didn't take them, despite still having a great game.

"But it's 2-0, especially in England it never is over, and I want the taker who has more routine, who is a specialist, to take it."

City, which is vying for the triple, will travel to Real Madrid on Tuesday for the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.