Victimised Citizens
Guardiola says Sterling red card takes gloss off City win
LONDON: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola admitted his satisfaction at his team’s dramatic 2-1 win at Bournemouth was tainted by the dismissal of Raheem Sterling.
Referee Mike Dean showed Sterling a second yellow card after the England forward celebrated his deflected 97th-minute winner on Saturday by throwing himself into the away end.
Having previously seen fullback Kyle Walker sent off in Monday’s 1-1 draw with Everton, Guardiola said his side had had once again been the victims of an injustice.
“It is a good question,” said the City manager when asked why Sterling had been booked for a second time.
“I would like someone to comment. If you cannot celebrate with the fans, the best solution is not to invite the fans. You can imagine how happy he is, how happy the fans are.
“We won. If we had not won or lost, I would not have made the argument, but I would like someone to tell me that.
“Why Kyle Walker was sent off and is not here and why Raheem Sterling now can’t play against his former team (Liverpool, after the international break).”
He added: “Teams who always have 65, 70% of possession always have the player sent off. Perhaps someone can explain that to me one day.”
Charlie Daniels had given Bournemouth a 13th minute-lead with a thunderbolt from wide on the left that crashed into Ederson’s net via the crossbar.
But Gabriel Jesus levelled eight minutes later and although City looked set to pay the price for failing to make more of a number of chances, Sterling saved the day at the death.
Guardiola’s line-up included Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy, who were making their first starts for the club since their close-season moves from Monaco.
“The first thing I did was go to Mendy and Silva and say, ‘Welcome to the Premier League!’” said City captain Vincent Kompany.
“It is absolute madness. Especially because I thought we played well. Just like we had against Everton. The few chances we have, we maybe don’t score them.
“Today we deserved to win, but they made it incredibly hard for us.” — AFP