Guardiola To Face No Action After His Word To The Referee

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will face no
action from the Football Association for his actions
during the defeat by Liverpool on Sunday.

Liverpool beat the Premier League champions 3-1
at anfield to move eight points clear at the top of
the table and nine clear of Guardiola’s City.

It came after City had two penalty appeals for
handball turned down.
Guardiola could be seen saying

“thank you so much” as he shook referee Michael Oliver’s hand after the match.

Asked about the incident, the Spaniard said: “No, it
was not sarcastic. It was:

‘Thank you so much’.
“I said the same thing after the Tottenham game. ‘Thank you so much’. “I go over to the referees and my colleagues and I say ‘good luck’ all the time.”

City were convinced they should have been awarded
a penalty for a Trent Alexander-Arnold handball
moments before Fabinho struck the opening goal.
Guardiola appeared visibly upset by the decision to allow the goal, suggesting any questions about it
should be put to Mike Riley, general manager of
Professional Game Match Officials Limited, the
body responsible for referees in English professional football.
The City manager offered no comment on the
incident beyond saying: “Ask Mike Riley and his
people please.”

Guardiola was again animated on the touchline
when the ball struck Alexander-Arnold on the arm
from close range late in the match.