Pep blows whistle on refs as City are charged by the FA
PEP Guardiola wants urgent talks between Premier League referees to improve standards he has never come across before in football.
City were denied a penalty in the midst of their 1-1 draw with Liverpool as James Milner took out Raheem Sterling’s foot as the winger waited to tap in the opening goal, while the visitors had a few shouts of their own turned down.
The Blues have now been charged by the FA for misconduct for failing to control their players on Sunday after they surrounded the referee after he awarded a penalty against them.
“It is alleged that in or around the 50th minute of the fixture, the club failed to ensure its players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion,” read an FA statement. “City have until 6pm on 23 March 2017 to respond to the charge.”
If the club are found guilty, a fine is the usual punishment.
“You know my opinion about the referees,” said Guardiola after the game.
“My advice to them is that they have to speak to each other and they have to sit down and review to make this sport better.
“What happened this season is something I have never seen in my life.
“They have to sit and analyse why this amount of things happen, not [only] in Manchester City games, but in all the games.”
Guardiola has already been critical of officials since joining City. The manager met refereeing chief Mike Riley in January to try to explain certain decisions that had gone against his team. PEP Guardiola was asked in the aftermath of a breathless, incidentpacked Liverpool game whether the decisions had ‘gone against you today?’
His exasperated response was as close as the City manager will get to criticising referees.
“Just today? Remember Chelsea? Remember Tottenham?” was his reply, before he hastily went off at a more agreeable tangent, talking about the way his team had made him proud.
But he had a point. In fact, he had a bigger point than he realised.
Those two games – like the 1-1 draw with Liverpool – contained clear incidents where the referee got it wrong in favour of the opposition, incidents that would almost certainly have changed the game.
But City’s run of being on the receiving end of poor decisions in clashes against the other members of the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ goes back much further.
In fact, we started scouring our archives for the last time City won a game, or even gained a point, against one of their rivals, with the assistance of a poor decision from the officials. Sunday was the latest instance of City being robbed by poor refereeing.
When James Milner clattered into the back of Raheem Sterling as the City man was poised to turn in David Silva’s cross, it was the most clear-cut of the five penalty claims in the game.
The other four – two for each team - had enough doubt to excuse ref Michael Oliver’s reluctance. But the one he gave, for a Gael Clichy challenge which won the ball before Roberto Firmino collided with his leg, was not.
It was the latest of a litany of poor decisions in big games which have hurt City.
Against Spurs in January, Andre Marriner inexplicably failed to see Kyle Walker shove Sterling in the back as he raced through on goal.
Against Chelsea in December, David Luiz clearly nudged Sergio Aguero as he chased a ball which would have seen him clear on goal.
United fans have a fair claim that Claudio Bravo’s challenge on Wayne Rooney in the Old Trafford derby should have brought a red card and penalty.
But that ignores the fact that Rooney had committed five yellow card offences before that point, and should not have been on the field.
It also ignores Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s forearm smash on Nicolas Otamendi, which was a red card offence without question. And in the League Cup tie between the two, Michael Carrick’s hack at Aleix Garcia inside the box has been conveniently forgotten. Last season, Spurs won 2-1 at City courtesy of a penalty when Danny Rose’s cross cannoned off Sterling’s hip and onto his elbow, in a perfectly natural position. In the reverse fixture at White Hart Lane, City led through a goal which was perhaps fractionally offside but were soon trailing to TWO Spurs goals which were clearly offside. The unpunished infractions go on – Liverpool beat the Blues 2-1 in 2015 when Pablo Zabaleta was clearly pulled back in the box, and Arsenal drew 2-2 at the Emirates after Sergio Aguero was virtually assaulted in the lead-up to the Gunners’ equaliser. City’s poor record against the big teams is not entirely explained by poor refereeing, but it has a big bearing. Stuart Brennan