Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has defended his side's celebrations following Sunday's 2-1 win at Manchester United, with reports suggesting that things turned ugly following the conclusion at the Theatre of Dreams.
I encouraged the celebrations
The Citizens headed across the city looking to further extend their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League, but their confidence was hit slightly with their midweek defeat over Shakhtar Donetsk.
Guardiola's men dominated throughout Sunday's clash with goals from David Silva and Nicolás Otamendi cancelling out Marcus Rashford's equaliser, the win opened up a 11-point gap over José Mourinho's men which rightfully brought around celebrations.
However it is believed that an altercation broke out post-match involving Mourinho and Ederson which reportedly led to milk being thrown at the manager and Mikel Arteta receiving a cut on his head, the FA has since asked for an explanation of events from both sides and ahead of Wednesday's clash with Swansea he stated that it was him who has "encouraged" such celebrations but only with "huge respect" for their opponents.
"I encouraged the players to celebrate victories," Guardiola stated in his pre-match press conference. "But of course inside the locker room and with huge respect for opponents, not just Manchester United, for all the opponents."
"I don't know if we are going to win or not win titles this season," the Catalan coach stated. "Nobody knows, so we cannot wait for the right moment."
"I am the guy that encouraged them to celebrate it in that moment but between each other," Guardiola added. "Because football is like this, and it's what we did."
We are thinking about new recruits
However Guardiola heads to the Liberty Stadium with some more serious concerns in defence, as he confirmed that skipper Vincent Kompany would not be travelling to Wales with the rest of the squad.
The Belgian was forced off at half-time in Sunday's win with a muscular injury, Kompany joins both John Stones and Benjamin Mendy on the sidelines for the foreseeable and Guardiola admitted that he is already thinking about recruitments in January.
“We are thinking about it,” he said when asked if he had been looking at possible transfers. “I’m honest."
“In that department, we have few players," the coach admitted. "Maybe we are looking for another central defender due to the problems with Vincent."
"We have a lot of games. John Stones is out for four to five weeks," the Catalan stated. "To handle all of the competitions we are in, we are in real trouble."
“I can’t assure you anything," Guardiola concluded.. "But we are thinking about it."