Pep Guardiola denied that he treated Liverpool substitutes Kostas Tsimikas and Arthur Melo with a lack of respect after celebrating Manchester City’s equalising goal in front of them on the touchline at the Etihad Stadium.
City came from a goal down to win 4-1 and Guardiola reacted to Julian Alvarez’s goal on 27 minutes, which cancelled out Mo Salah’s earlier strike, by walking backwards and talking in the face of Tsimikas as the full back made his way to the Liverpool substitutes bench.
Guardiola then offered a handshake to Arthur and tapped on the back of his head, but insisted he was not goading the duo. “I was happy and I said how nice our goal was,” the City manager said.
Rio Ferdinand, the BT Sport pundit, said that Tsimikas had shown restraint not to react, but Guardiola insisted that he was just being good humoured and denied that his actions were provocative.
“Nah, come on,” he added. “I’m so sorry. Speak with Tsimikas, speak with the others. Ask him if I lack respect, I celebrate the goal with my son on that floor [the tier of the stand above]. And I said ‘The goal was nice, wasn’t it?’ That’s all. I’m so sorry. Do you think it’s a lack of respect? Ah ok, sorry. I’m so sorry.”
After the interval, City took charge, with Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gündogan and Jack Grealish scoring to rout the visitors and send them to their eighth away league loss of the season. A statement performance and win by City, even without the injured Erling Haaland, means they remain eight points behind leaders Arsenal but with a game in hand.
Guardiola lavished praise on his team for a very good overall display, with the City manager even admitting that it may have been one of the best of his seven-year reign at the club. He said: “Minute one to minute 93, it was a perfect performance – even when we conceded a goal we were playing really well.
“It is one of the best performances in my seven years [here]. The game was so stable through 93 minutes – I cannot name one player better than the other one, all were exceptional.”
Guardiola’s mood was in stark contrast to that of the Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, whose side collapsed after conceding a second goal 53 seconds after the interval. Klopp said only four players — Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Alisson and Cody Gakpo — were “OK” and rounded on another “unacceptable” performance.
“There is nothing good to say about this game,” the coach said. “This is a game which we have to use, unfortunately, to make clear which things cannot happen. We cannot not have challenges in key areas. We cannot be that open. That is not possible. I cannot explain it, I can only describe it.”
Liverpool team coach damaged in attack
Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Police are investigating after an object, believed to be a brick, was hurled at the Liverpool team coach, damaging a window, as it entered a residential area after leaving the Etihad Stadium. No Liverpool player was injured as a result of the incident.
City described the flashpoint as “totally unacceptable” and said in a statement: “Manchester City FC has been made aware that Liverpool FC’s coach sustained damage on its return journey following today’s game. We understand an object was thrown towards the coach in a residential area.
“Incidents of this kind are totally unacceptable, and we strongly condemn the actions of the individual(s) responsible. We will fully support Greater Manchester Police’s investigation into this incident in any way we can.”
That statement came after an earlier one in which City highlighted their disappointment at chants related to the Hillsborough disaster — when a crush during the 1989 FA semi-final against Nottingham Forest caused the deaths of 97 Liverpool fans — which were audible from some of the home supporters during the first-half of the game. Liverpool said they were “sickened” by those vile chants.
“Manchester City FC are disappointed to have heard inappropriate chants from home fans during today’s game,” said the club. “We regret any offence these chants may have caused and will continue to work with supporters groups and officials from both clubs to eradicate hateful chanting from this fixture.”
A statement from the Premier League said “[It] condemns the chanting heard during today’s match between Manchester City and Liverpool. The League is treating the issue of tragedy chanting as a priority and as a matter of urgency.”