Pep Guardiola apologised to the referee after losing his temper with the officials during Manchester City's win over Real Madrid. Phil Foden had just restored City's two-goal advantage in the Champions League semi-final as he rose to meet Fernandinho's cross in the 53rd minute, and the Blues thought they had won a throw-in from the resulting kick-off as they scented blood.
However, the decision went in Real's favour and Guardiola's reaction to the decision earned him a yellow card from ref István Kovács as his frustration boiled over. To make matters worse, City switched off as the ball came back into play and Vinicius Jr skinned Fernandinho before storming into the box and slotting past Ederson to reduce the arrears to one goal again.
Guardiola, an animated figure throughout as he tried to kick every ball for his team, laid his emotions bare during a match that thrilled neutrals as it shredded the nerves of both sets of supporters. However, the City boss later said sorry to Kovacs for allowing his frustration to boil over.
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"Many things happen. With a throw in cross to the box we could not complain [about the second goal]," he said. "I apologised to the referee, it was just emotion. For me, I was there and thought it was for our side but they decide the opposite."
City were later on the end of an excellent decision as Kovacs played advantage when Oleksandr Zinchenko was fouled on the edge of the box and Bernardo Silva pounced as Eduardo Camavinga stalled to hammer home the fourth goal.
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