«Next time, I’ll tell the players to ignore the referee»: Guardiola complains about refereeing
Spanish coach complains about Arsenal’s first goal, right after Michael Oliver called Walker and, consequently, dispositioned the player
After the 2-2 draw with Arsenal , Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was frustrated with the way Michael Oliver refereed the match.
“Next time, I’ll tell my players to ignore the referee when he calls them. He’ll come and see us,” he said after the match, in clear reference to the moment that led to Calafiori ‘s goal : the referee called Walker , ordered him to take a free kick and, in the sequence and with the Skyblues captain out of position, the Italian equalised the match.
The Spanish coach also referred to the number of times opposing players complained of physical complaints and cramps during the match, recalling that “it can happen in an intense game”, and also analysed the second half in which Arsenal , with one less player on the pitch, played almost exclusively in defence. “We crossed and crossed and we had Rúben Dias , Akanji and Haaland , but they had Rice , Saliba , Gabriel , Calafiori , so it was so, so difficult. They had 10 players [in the box]. We got what we deserved.” “Maybe I would have done the same if I had 10 men on the pitch. You have to ask Mikel [Arteta] what the tactics were. In the end, we got what we deserved,” he added.
Guardiola praised the Arsenal players , who he believes have shown “a huge commitment”, but stressed that “there are 99 points up for grabs”.
