Pep Guardiola Furious About VAR, City and Spurs End the Day With a Draw, 2-2

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City suffered another blow against Tottenham Hotspurs because of VAR system. And again the Spaniard and his team were denied a win in the last moments of the event, which made him pretty frustrated following the contest.

In the final moments of today’s game, Gabriel Jesus scored what was supposed to be a winning goal. But the referee Michael Oliver received a warning from the VAR room that the goal has been irregular, and changed the result. Aymeric Laporte handballed in Tottenham’s box, which was the reason for the main official to cancel the goal.

Truth to be told, the ball did hit Laporte’s hand, but there is no way that he wanted that to happen. He was in a fierce battle for the position with one of the Tottenham’s players and didn’t have the intention to touch the ball with his arm.

Nevertheless, the referee was strict, and the massive joy of the fans at Etihad turned into silence.

Guardiola was obviously unhappy, and he had few remarks on the VAR system at the press conference. Pep talked about several other situations which weren’t changed with VAR, and also mentioned a few moments from Wednesday’s UEFA Super Cup. According to one of the best coaches in this century, some of the decisions weren’t right, and in some other situations, the original call wasn’t challenged.

“So they have to fix it. VAR is here. The images are not clear, but if they think it’s hands … now we have to accept it,” Pep said, reminding everyone that his team should have got the penalty in the first period. “It wasn’t a penalty in the first half, which I found incredible. But we move forward.”

This was the first VAR goal cancellation in Man City’s Premier League history. The last time this happened in here at Etihad was against the same team when they suffered elimination from the quarterfinals of the UCL.

Guardiola was frustrated additionally because of the fact that his team reached the lead twice during the game and couldn’t keep it. Sterling and Aguero scored both goals in the first 45 minutes, while Lamela added one for the visitors in that half.

Lucas Moura’s header leveled the score, which stayed until the end.

Aguero and Guardiola had one minor dispute in front of the bench. The Argentinian star was very unhappy for being substituted and had a lot to say to the manager. Meanwhile, Guardiola explained what is the catch here, saying that the striker misinterpreted his decisions.

“He believed that I was upset with him for the goal we conceded, from a corner,” Guardiola said.

The derby was at the highest possible level with both sides having their chances to secure the triumph and to remain the top of the table.

Guardiola added that when talking about the match itself, he feels very proud of his team, and listed several reasons for that. In his opinion, Tottenham is one of the best Europan clubs, which is why he can’t criticize his players.

“We played incredibly against the second-best team in Europe, the finalists of the Champions League, so I am so proud.”

Up next, the Citizens are traveling to Bournemouth to play with Southampton. Knowing the style of play of the Saints, we might just stay that this match might be the derby of the round.

Meanwhile, Tottenham hosts Newcastle United. Both matches will be played on August 25.