Published 11:42 IST, November 11th 2019
Watch Pep Guardiola fume as he sarcastically ‘thanks’ Michael Oliver
Pep Guardiola sarcastically congratulates referee Michael Oliver for his performance in Manchester City's 3-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday
Advertisement
Pep Guardiola was unsurprisingly frustrated on Sunday as he felt his side were denied two clear-cut penalty opportunities during the 3-1 loss to Liverpool at Anfield. His disappointment seemed to boil over when he sarcastically congratulated the referee Michael Oliver during a post-match handshake.
Pep Guardiola trolling the referees after the game. "Thank you so much. SO MUCH!" 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/q6X49Yxo0i
— FutbolBible (@FutbolBible) November 10, 2019
Liverpool vs Manchester City: Pep Guardiola's frustrations with VAR
Manchester City thought they should have been awarded a spot-kick in the 5th minute of the game when the ball appeared to have glanced-off the hand of Trent Alexander-Arnold and within 30 seconds, Liverpool countered in pace and Fabinho fired the home side into an early lead. VAR ruled in favour of Liverpool much to the surprise of City and their manager Pep Guardiola.
Mohamed Salah soon doubled the lead with a brilliant header following a pinpoint cross from Andy Robertson before Sadio Mane made it 3-0 in the second half. Guardiola felt his side were denied another penalty in the second half when the ball again struck Alexander-Arnold on the hand following a Raheem Sterling cross. VAR, however, ruled the Liverpool full-back was not at fault, sparking a hysterical reaction from the City manager on the sidelines. Guardiola was seen thrusting two fingers at Mike Dean, the fourth official, in the 82nd minute to denote what he felt was the denial of a second penalty.
Liverpool vs Manchester City: Pep Guardiola's sarcastic 'thank you'
The City manager was unsurprisingly furious after he felt his side were denied two penalties during another epic meeting between the two title-chasing sides at Anfield. After the final whistle blew, Pep Guardiola shook hands with every player on the pitch before moving towards the match officials and sarcastically thanked them for their performance. Television cameras showed Pep Guardiola twice shouting: “Thank you so much” in a cheeky fashion at Michael Oliver as he shook hands with the referee.
Guardiola later revealed that the 'thank you' was not meant to be sarcastic as he insisted he thanks the referee after almost every game.
Liverpool vs Manchester City: Pep Guardiola sure had some kind words post-match
PEP 💬 What happened today is that we showed why we were the Champions.
— Manchester City (@ManCity) November 10, 2019
In this stadium, to play way we played, we did incredible. I'm so proud of my team.
They're the strongest team in Europe and the way we played, we played so good.
🔵 #LIVMCI #ManCity pic.twitter.com/ShchojbmAz
08:06 IST, November 11th 2019