Guardiola is angry with the referee! I don’t like it. The player stood up, the referee gestured for him to continue, and after the pass he stopped the game…

Manchester City have had a really interesting game against Tottenham. They were losing the game but seemed to be going for the win in the end, with an equaliser and a draw coming at the end. However, Pep Guardiola was angry with referee Simon Hooper who robbed them of a promising chance.

The fourteenth round of the Premier League offered a clash of two teams fighting for the top league positions. Manchester City hosted Tottenham at home and it was sure to be an interesting match.

Heung-Min Son opened the scoring but then scored an own goal. Phil Foden put City ahead after half an hour of play, but Giovani Lo Celso equalised in the 70th minute. Eleven minutes later Jack Grealish gave the home side the lead back and it looked like the three points would stay at the Etihad.

But the opposite was true. Dejan Kulusevski equalised in the 90th minute and the points were shared between the two sides. Quite possibly it wouldn’t have been the case if referee Simon Hooper hadn’t made a mistake.

He was about to call a foul on Erling Haaland in the setup, but the player stood up and kept the advantage. The Norwegian sent Grealish into an independent break with a beautiful pass and that’s when the foul came.

It’s a wonder why the referee made that decision when his colleague on the touchline gave no indication that it might have been offside. The City players were furious, but there was nothing they could do about it. Coach Pep Guardiola then commented on the moment in a press conference.

Guardiola at the press conference

“I make mistakes, the players make mistakes. It surprised me because in that moment Erling fell down and when you blow the whistle in that moment it’s OK. But when a player stands up, continues and the referee makes that gesture to keep playing and only after he passes the ball does he stop the game… I don’t like that. I don’t want to criticise him,” Guardiola said.

He also took issue with Haaland, who was almost deranged. According to him, at that moment, almost all players could have been red-carded because they went at the referee.

“It’s normal. His reaction was the same as the other ten players. According to the rules you can’t talk to the referee, we should have had 10 players sent off. He’s a bit disappointed. Even the referee – if he was playing for Manchester City he would be disappointed for the tackle, that’s clear,” he added.

Source: Premier League, Livesport