Pep Guardiola makes referee threat after being left furious over Man City decision

Manchester City were angry that Michael Oliver dragged Kyle Walker out of his position and then allowed Arsenal to take a quick free-kick in the build-up to their first goal

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he could instruct his captain not to obey the referee after being left furious by Arsenal’s opening goal on Sunday.

City managed to grab a 98th-minute equaliser through John Stones at the end of an incident-packed 2-2 draw against their title rivals at the Etihad Stadium. Referee Michael Oliver was a busy man, with his decision to send off Leandro Trossard for delaying the restart at the end of the first half annoying Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.

Guardiola had his own reasons to be irritated, with City making a point about Arsenal’s efforts to slow the game down in the second half. City were also furious with Riccardo Calafiori’s goal which came after a quickly-taken free-kick when right-back Kyle Walker was not ready, having been summoned by Oliver moments beforehand.

Guardiola was spotted kicking his dugout chair in anger after Calafiori curled a beautiful finish past Ederson from the edge of the area. And the City boss explained his take on the situation after speaking to his captain at half-time.

“I was [annoyed] with Kyle, but Kyle was right, because the referee had asked him to come and talk to him with the other ones,” he said in his post-match press conference. “When this happens some people have to be close to the ball and you have to readjust the back four, but we didn’t have time.

“But don’t worry, Kyle arrived in the position a second before Calafiori [scored], so at the end that’s what happened. But we knew that always every free kick they could go quick to the wingers and they are really good with Saka and Martinelli.

“I don’t like the back four when there’s a full move on, but when the referee says ‘come and talk to me’, at least let [the players] come back in their position, because the next time we will not go and talk to them. It’s not a problem from Kyle.”

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Walker had made it back to his right-back position by the time Arsenal released Gabriel Martinelli down the left flank, but his arm went straight up into the air to appeal as he ran back. The Arsenal winger got into the box before laying the ball back for Calafiori to curl into the far corner.

That was just one of City’s gripes with the way the game played out, with Arsenal’s efforts to slow the game down by claiming their players were suffering with cramp a particular grievance. “There was only one team that came to play football,” City midfielder Bernardo Silva said. “The other came to play to the limits of what was possible to do and allowed by the referee, unfortunately.”

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