The Football Association have decided Pep Guardiola will not face any action over his controversial celebration during Manchester City's win over Liverpool on Saturday.
City's manager was accused of lacking class after playfully celebrating in the face of Liverpool substitute Kostas Tsimikas on his way back to the Reds' dugout immediately after Julian Alvarez had struck his side's equaliser. Guardiola also shook the hand of Liverpool midfielder Arthur Melo before patting him on the head as he struggled to contain his glee at City drawing level.
Neither player reacted to his antics, though BT Sport pundit Rio Ferdinand remarked: "That celebration there, I don't know how Tsimikas hasn't pushed him out of the way... He couldn't contain himself." Yet Guardiola will not face any punishment, according to The Echo.
Guardiola was at risk of crossing the line of breaching FA Rule E3 which states all participants must not 'act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute'. He denied he had done anything wrong after the game, as he told reporters: “I was happy and I said ‘how nice was our goal?’ That’s all.”
Asked if he was simply having fun, Guardiola then responded: “Of course, come on.” Pressed on whether he felt his celebration lacked respect, he replied: “I’m so sorry. Speak with Tsimikas, speak with Arthur for a lack of respect. Ask him if I lack respect. I celebrated the goal.
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"I celebrate with my son on the floor and I come here and I say ‘the goal was nice, wasn’t it?’ That’s all. I’m so sorry. Do you think it was a lack of respect? Ah okay, I’m sorry.”
While City and Guardiola have escaped any retrospective action, the same might not be said of Liverpool, who could be handed a fine. The FA are said to be reviewing an incident during the game after City midfielder Rodri fouled Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo.
Rodri had only just been booked when he pulled back Gakpo as he tried to mount an attack near the halfway line. Liverpool players including captain Jordan Henderson immediately surrounded referee Simon Hooper as they pressure the official to brandish a second yellow card, only for their calls to be ignored.
The conduct of the Liverpool players may be deemed to have breached FA rule E20.1, which relates to failure to behave in an orderly fashion and could be punishable by a fine.
As Liverpool wait to hear further, Jurgen Klopp has admitted he will make changes to his lineup for Tuesday's clash with Chelsea after hitting out at his players over their "unacceptable" performance vs City. Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Klopp revealed his team had been having frank discussions behind closed doors to bring their issues to the surface and determine what is going wrong amid their difficult slump this season.
"We cannot do any intense stuff, so it's more talking," the Reds boss said. "That is what we'll do but I am sure Chelsea will look to react [to the sacking of manager Graham Potter]."
"We cannot work on the pitch but we have to show a desire for a reaction, 100 per cent," he added. "Short turnaround means I have no clue who I can line up. We give the boys as much time as possible to recover but there will be changes, definitely.
"We cannot just continue playing how we do from time to time. I am really disappointed about us that we do this but it happens. We have to find a way out."
