Manchester City were on the wrong side of a highly controversial refereeing decision in the Manchester derby
Pep Guardiola has not spoken to officials about the refereeing in the Manchester derby and told his team to forget it almost as soon as the final whistle was over.
Manchester City were leading 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday when United midfielder played a ball through the City defence for the offside Marcus Rashford. Rashford ran onto the ball, occupying Manu Akanji, Kyle Walker and Ederson, but at the last second left the ball for the onrushing Bruno Fernandes to fire past Ederson.
The offside flag went up for Rashford but referee Stuart Attwell overturned the decision as he deemed that Rashford was not interfering with play by virtue of not touching the ball – despite occupying the time and energy of the City defenders. The team’s anger at the decision continues after the final whistle, with Manu Akanji calling it a “joke” in a broadcast interview.
However, while Guardiola was asked about the decision in his post-match interviews he had already told his players to instantly forget it and focus on Tottenham this coming Thursday. City face a wounded Spurs who could move to within three points of the Blues should they claim a win at the Etihad.
City’s manager made clear to his players that they had to look ahead if they were to avoid any more setbacks.
“It’s over. It won’t change anything,” he said. “Focus on Tottenham. Two minutes later in the dressing room, I said to the team to focus on the next game.”
