Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola delivered a series of curt answers in response to questions over another red card for Fernandinho against Burnley.
The Brazilian was sent off just after the half-hour mark of City’s 2-1 Premier League victory at the Etihad Stadium on Monday for a two-footed lunge on Johann Gudmundsson.
City coped admirably with their numerical disadvantage, however, and two quickfire goals in the second half from Gael Clichy and substitute Sergio Aguero put them ahead before Ben Mee gave the Clarets hope wih 20 minutes to go.
Fernandinho’s dismissal was his third in six outings for City after red cards against Borussia Monchengladbach and Chelsea, but a clearly irked Guardiola was in no mood to discuss the decision of referee Lee Mason, whom he remonstrated with angrily at full-time.
“You are the journalist, you can see and explain it,” he told Sky Sports.
When it was put to him that the reporter was not paid to explain it, Guardiola replied: “Me neither. I explain about the games, not the red cards and so on.”
Guardiola brought David Silva and Aguero off the bench at half-time, and was asked if it was an error not to start the duo.
“Sure, I did a big mistake, you are right,” he said with a hint of sarcasm. “Yes [I corrected it], I am intelligent.”
Guardiola was similarly prickly in his media conference, pointing to what he felt was a foul on goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in the lead-up to Mee’s goal.
“It’s always our fault, always City’s fault,” he said when asked if Fernandinho had been ill-advised to jump in on Gudmundsson.
“I saw other games so – maybe not here – but all around the world, the fault to Claudio Bravo in the goal to Burnley is a fault.
“Here, and all around the world the rules say that in the six-yard box the goalkeeper cannot be touched. But I saw [Maarten] Stekelenburg in Everton versus Middlesbrough at the beginning of the season and it was a goal, okay, I have to adapt and understand the special rules in England.
“I didn’t see it [Fernandinho’s challenge], but I saw the fault for Claudio Bravo, that is definite. Now we are going to expect three or four games [ban for Fernandinho] so we accept that but it’s a fault, don’t remember [forget] that.”
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