Pep’s apology after section of fans mock Hillsborough

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 the mindless minority’s 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 Jurgen Klopp stressed the incident was over and done with as far as he was concerned.

Klopp 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 not nothing to do with City.’

Meanwhile, Klopp believes he witnessed one of Liverpool’s best first-half performances in his time as manager.

Having been dominated by City in the opening 45 minutes of their drawn Premier League encounter at the Etihad last Sunday, the Reds came flying out of the blocks at Wembley.

Ibrahima Konate’s header — his third goal in as many matches — was followed by a brace from Sadio Mane as they went in at the interval 3-0 up.

City’s fightback saw them score at the start and end of the second half, but the work Klopp’s side had done earlier saw them through.

Asked whether it was one of the best first-half performances he had seen from his side, Klopp said: ‘I think so, that was the feeling I had when I saw the first half, (because of) the quality of the opponent — you saw in the second half how good they really are.

‘Denying them in so many moments, creating your own opportunities, using them is very difficult. The first half was outstanding in pretty much all parts of the game. Second half they score and no football player on the planet feels safe against City with a 3-1 lead.

‘Three-nil against City feels kind of strange, 3-2 is a fair result.’

Liverpool’s win kept their Quadruple hopes alive, but City will now have to focus all their attention on the league, which they lead by a point, and the Champions League.

After two 2-2 draws this season, this was the first time one side had got the upper hand on the other — but Klopp did not see it as getting one over on their rivals.

‘I don’t have enemies in football. I have been at Liverpool seven years and I know who our rivals are. I count 19 in the Premier League and City are the best team in the league in my time here,’ he said.

‘If you want to win something, you have to be above City. But that doesn’t take anything away from the rivalry with (Manchester) United or the rivalry with Everton.’

Klopp believes adding the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League to the Carabao Cup they won in February remains unlikely.

‘You can mention whatever you want. It doesn’t make it more likely that you get the answer you want from me,’ he said when asked about the Quadruple.

‘I think a game like today shows even more how unlikely it is to do something like that.

‘We went through against City, which is incredibly difficult and intense, and in three days we play against Manchester United and historically it’s not a friendly game.

‘A few days later we play Everton, in the situation they are (battling relegation) it will not be a friendly game, then we play Villarreal (in the Champions League semi-final).

‘It’s (the Quadruple) really unlikely but I couldn’t care less to be honest; let’s go for it and try to win the next game.’

Guardiola, however, defended his players and was pleased with their response in the second half.

The Spaniard said: ‘I have a lot of confidence in my players and selections. I trust a lot of them. We had a terrible run of fixtures and travel and a lot of important games. That’s why we needed fresh legs.

‘We started well but after one set-piece, where Liverpool are so strong, and the second was an accident, it was tough. Then we conceded a third in the last minute of the first half.

‘In the second half we had the momentum, we had the most clear chances.’