Pep Guardiola apologised after being accused of a “lack of respect“ during a spiky press conference for his celebrations in Saturday afternoon’s dominant victory over Liverpool.
The reigning Premier League champions eased to a 4-1 win at the Etihad Stadium as Julian Alvarez, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan and Jack Grealish all got on the scoresheet during an irresistible 90 minutes. In the aftermath of his side’s equaliser following Mo Salah ’s opener, Guardiola found himself at the heart of controversy.
After Alvarez had found the net, the Spaniard bounded down the touchline in celebration and celebrated in the face of Liverpool substitute Kostas Tsimikas. He then upped the ante as he gave a handshake to Arthur Melo, before giving the Brazilian a tap on the head.
Neither the Greek left-back nor his teammate responded but that did not stop Guardiola from being asked about the incident in the post-match press conference. Clarifying what happened during the exchange, he revealed: “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.”
Another journalist then picked Guardiola up on the incident and enquired whether the celebration was a slight lack of respect for the Liverpool players. Getting visibly more annoyed, he said: “I’m so sorry. Speak with Tsimikas, speak with Arthur for a lack of respect.
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“Ask him if I lack respect. I celebrated the goal. 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.”
Following the full-time whistle, former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand was left baffled over a lack of reaction from Tsimikas during the incident . Speaking to BT Sport, he said: “That celebration there, I don't know how Tsimikas hasn't pushed him out of the way... He [Guardiola] couldn't contain himself.”
Whilst Guardiola used plenty of time after the match to explain his actions, he also praised his team for their performance against Liverpool as the gap to current Premier League leaders Arsenal was temporarily reduced to just five points. The Spaniard claimed the display was among the best from his side since his arrival at the Etihad Stadium.
As quoted by BT Sport, he said: “From minute one to minute 90, it was the perfect performance. We played really, really good in all departments. One of the best performances in my seven years.”
Guardiola will hope to avoid any more touchline incidents in Man City‘s next outing against Southampton at St Mary’s next weekend.
