Man City players fuming at Liverpool opener: Gundogan

Nov 11, 2019 12:22 pm

Manchester City players were left fuming in the dressing room after watching replays of Liverpool’s controversial opening goal in a 3-1 loss at Anfield on Sunday, midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has said.

EPL
LIVERPOOL	MAN CITY
3	1
Fabinho (6'), Salah (13'), Mané (51')	Bernardo Silva (78')

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold appeared to handle the ball inside his own box in the sixth minute but instead of a City penalty the hosts broke and 22 seconds later Fabinho drilled in a spectacular goal from outside the box.

The goal was checked by VAR and allowed to stand as Liverpool went on to clinch the victory and move nine points clear of City in the Premier League title race.

“We saw the incident again in the dressing room afterwards and for me, obviously, it’s a penalty – but if you ask a Liverpool player they would say, ‘You can give it but it’s maybe a 50-50 situation,’” Gundogan told reporters.

“It takes a tough mentality to fight against that and unfortunately they scored the second straight after.” City are aiming to become the first team since Manchester United in 2009 to win three consecutive Premier League titles but now occupy fourth spot in the table.

Last season, City recovered in the second half of the campaign to erase Liverpool’s 10-point lead at the top and Gundogan wants the same level of commitment from his team mates.

“We have to accept it, but there is a long way to go. Last season in January we were quite far behind and able to turn it around,” Gundogan added.

ENRAGED

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola refused to be drawn on the controversy surrounding Liverpool’s opening goal which left his side nine points behind the leaders in the Premier League.

Guardiola was enraged on the touchline, as was Sergio Aguero on the pitch, and after the final whistle he shook hands with Liverpool’s players before seeking out the match officials and saying “thank you so much” – his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The incident proved a turning point in Liverpool’s victory which opened up a nine-point lead over reigning champions City who are fourth, a point behind Chelsea and Leicester City.

Asked for his opinion on the opening goal, Guardiola pointedly would not discuss it.

“Ask to the referees, don’t ask to me,” he told Sky Sports. “Ask to (referees chief) Mike Riley and the guys in the VAR, don’t ask to me.” Guardiola preferred to talk about what he described as an “incredible” display by his beaten side.

“What happened today was we showed why we are the champions,” he said. “In this stadium to play the way we played was incredible, so I’m so proud of my team more than ever.

“Against the strongest team in Europe, so proud.” Asked whether a nine-point gap could be bridged to a side that has not lost in 29 Premier League games, Guardiola said he was “not a magician”.

“We tried to do our job and I would like to talk about our performance which was so good,” he said. “The way we played was awesome, one of the best performances.

“There is still seven months and if Liverpool win I will be the first to congratulate them because we can’t deny how good they are. The way they play and create chances and the personality to play all the time.

“It was an honour for both teams to show the Premier League to spectators this type of game.” Alexander-Arnold admitted the ball had struck his arm but said it had hit City midfielder Bernardo Silva’s arm first.

“We know there’s VAR but you have to carry on playing, they complained but you have to keep on playing. We went down the other end and punished them,” he said.

Silva also declined to talk about the opening goal but said City would fight until the end.

“We’ve been in this position last season, we will never give up,” he said. “We’re only in November and they still have to play at the Etihad and there are plenty of games to play.

“We are not in the ideal position, or the one we’d want to be, we have to improve.”