Guardiola apology after City fans boo Hillsborough tribute

MANCHESTER CITY have condemned the fans who chanted through the minute’s silence to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy and apologised to Liverpool for their behaviour.

Pep Guardiola was aghast that a small section behind the goal started singing when referee Michael Oliver blew his whistle to mark the period of reflection for the 97 fans who were killed during an FA Cup semi-final

between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest and the noise became so much that the match official blew his whistle to end the silence prematurely.

Guardiola said: ‘The club made a statement. We apologised and it does not represent who we are or what we want to be. We stand by Liverpool Football Club after this tragedy. The statement from the club reflects who we are.’

A City spokesperson said: ‘Manchester City are extremely disappointed with the actions of some City supporters during the minute’s silence before today’s game. The club sincerely apologises to all those connected with Liverpool Football Club.’ Liverpool accepted the apology and manager Jurgen Klopp stressed the incident was over and done with as far as he was concerned.

He said: ‘Of course we accept their apology. We never thought this was Man City, although there were some people who didn’t understand the situation and that’s not nice and felt really wrong in that moment. We cannot change that and it’s nothing to do with City.’

During the BBC’s coverage of the game, presenter Gary Lineker said at half-time: ‘This match was meant to be preceded by a minute’s silence for the 33rd anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster. This was cut short by referee Michael Oliver after persistent chants from the City end, which is disappointing.’