Pep Guardiola confessed that he had to warn Erling Haaland to keep his composure during Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Everton.
Haaland was shown a yellow card in the first half for a lunge on Everton's Vitaliy Mykolenko which many fans argued could have been a straight red, while he also caught James Tarkowski in the face as he attempted to shield the ball.
The Norway striker appeared to have been frustrated by an earlier challenge from Ben Godfrey and Guardiola suggested playing for City means Haaland will have to get use to being given very little protection.
"It was a [deserved] yellow card for Haaland. He was a bit angry for the first action on his ankle [by Godfrey]. I told him to be careful because we can’t play 10 against 11 and he reacted well," the boss explained.
"We are Manchester City. We have to do our best but I know what happened. Against Leeds, three or four fouls on Jack Grealish and nothing happened.
"I don’t want a relationship with the referees. I don’t want to be there in the meetings. I don’t care. They do their job, it is fine."
Haaland took his Premier League return to 21 goals - enough to win the Golden Boot in no fewer than five previous seasons - but City were left frustrated as a stunning strike from Demarai Gray saw them held to a draw.
Guardiola's side enter 2023 seven points behind Arsenal in the title race but will have the chance to close that gap when they face the Gunners in February.
