GUARDIOLA, DE BRUYNE IN FEISTY TOUCHLINE BUST-UP

KEVIN de Bruyne vented his frustration at Pep Guardiola after being taken off during Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool.

De Bruyne, 32, was substituted for Mateo Kovacic in the 69th minute as Guardiola looked to change the course of the match with Liverpool starting to take control.

City had opened the scoring through John Stones in the firsthalf — turning home De Bruyne’s smart corner kick — before Alexis Mac Allister equalised for Liverpool moments after the interval. Guardiola decided to make a change with Liverpool in the ascendancy.

De Bruyne and Julian Alvarez both made way and the Belgian was not pleased with the decision — making his feelings very, very clear.

As De Bruyne walked off to take his seat on the bench, he threw his arms up in the air and appeared to vent his anger at Guardiola. The ex-Chelsea midfielder then continued to make his annoyance clear as he shouted across at members of the

City coaching staff once Guardiola had sat down.

Reacting to the incident, Gary Neville said on commentary for Sky Sports: “Well that tells you all you need to know about how Liverpool are controlling this game. He’s having a little whinge at Pep Guardiola, well actually it’s a big whinge! He’s still going, look.

“This ground does something to them, we know how good City are, they’re one of the best teams in the world but Anfield never goes well for them and it hasn’t in this second half.”

Guardiola and De Bruyne continued to debate over the decision when the City boss took a seat next to his talisman on the subs’ bench. De Bruyne used hand gestures to try and explain his point of view, while Guardiola uttered a few words into his ear before leaving and returning to the touchline.

Asked about the De Bruyne issue, Guardiola said it wasn’t a problem that De Bruyne came off frustrated and unhappy.