Pep Guardiola was left confused by the decision to disallow Phil Foden s goal in Manchester City s 1-0 defeat to Liverpool
Foden appeared to have put the Premier League champions ahead early in the second half on Sunday, having lashed home on the rebound following Alisson s failure to keep hold of Kevin De Bruyne s pass.
Yet Liverpool were infuriated by what they claimed was a foul on Fabinho from Erling Haaland in the build-up and, despite initially waving play on, referee Anthony Taylor changed his decision after consulting the pitchside monitor.
To compound City s frustration, Mohamed Salah raced clear in the 76th minute and, having earlier seen a golden opportunity saved by Ederson, clipped a cute finish over City s goalkeeper to seal the spoils.
Guardiola, though, believes referee Taylor – who let plenty of physical challenges go unpunished through the game – showed inconsistency in the decision to disallow Foden s goal, with City s manager seemingly suggesting the fact the match was at Anfield played into the official s call.
He told Sky Sports: The referee came to the coaches and said play on, play on. There were a million fouls.
But after we scored a goal, he decided it is not play on. This is Anfield.
A word from the boss.
1-0
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
Of his side s display, Guardiola had few complaints.
We had [enough] chances. We had some fantastic chances, he added.
All the game we were brave, we played the game we should play and I don t have any complaints or regrets over how we have done it. We had chances but not enough to [win].
Guardiola conceded the electric atmosphere at Anfield in the wake of Salah s goal – a strike that moves the Egyptian ahead of Steven Gerrard into second place in Liverpool s all-time list of Premier League scorers – made matters more difficult for City, though indicated his team had not found the occasion overwhelming prior to the deadlock being broken.
After the goal, yeah, it s Anfield, Guardiola said. Before the goal, it was OK.
