He was sent to the stands for the second half.
The Spaniard was within his rights to be angry with referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz, but that’s no excuse for such a forceful outburst.
Guardiola is well known for his passion, for his emotional investment in the game. He wears his heart on his sleeve at all times and this make or break Champions League clash with Liverpool would clearly be no different.
City got off to a flying start in front of their home Etihad Crowd as they attempted to claw back a three goal aggregate deficit. Gabriel Jesus netted after just two minutes to ramp up the tension and to set City’s comeback mission in motion.
It was all the sky blues from then on as Liverpool appeared jittery and nervous. Bernardo Silva saw his shot cannon off the post as Kevin De Bruyne began to pull the strings.
In the 40th minute of the game, Leroy Sane bundled into the net after James Milner had deflected the ball into his path. The goal was wrongly disallowed for offside.
This would prove to be a crucial decision in the tie, because a goal just before half-time would really have changed the complexion of this game.
The City manager wasn’t shy to vent his frustration to the referee on the half-time whistle.
Egque Mouriño no sabe perde egque Guardiola zabe comportase egque…… pic.twitter.com/oHW8RWXUsw
— mi verdad (@kusetismo) April 10, 2018
Guardiola has never seen eye to eye with the referee in question. Famously, he was furious with his country man’s decision not to award Aguero with a penalty last season in their 5-3 win over Monaco last season.
Graham Souness had his say on the incident in the TV3 studios.
“It’s not something you should do but it’s understandable. He knows the referee has made the mistake…but this referee is a little bit arrogant.”
