Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will not face any punishment from the English FA following his confrontation with referee Michael Oliver in the aftermath of the 3-1 loss to Liverpool.
Guardiola was incensed during the game after being on the wrong side of two controversial handball decisions, and he approached Oliver after the game to shake his hand and say 'thank you so much' to the officials.
“Thank you so much!”
— Standard Sport (@standardsport) November 10, 2019
Pep Guardiola’s sarcastic handshake with Michael Oliver says it all as #MCFC feel aggrieved by VAR decisions at Anfieldpic.twitter.com/nEbKE61hqY
Immediately after the game, it was rumoured that Guardiola could face some form of retrospective action from the FA, but Sky Sports News have now confirmed that the Spaniard will avoid any punishment.
Guardiola's fury began building early in the game when Trent Alexander-Arnold was deemed not to have handled the ball in the Liverpool box, immediately before the Reds went up the other end and opened the scoring through Fabinho.
Alexander-Arnold was again at the centre of the controversy in the second half. Raheem Sterling appeared to flick the ball up against the right-back's hand, but Oliver decided there was nothing wrong with the incident.
Guardiola's outrage was clear to see, as he paraded up the touchline screaming "twice!" into the face of fourth official Mike Dean, before turning to the sky to cry out in disbelief.
His discussion with Oliver after the game certainly looked sarcastic, but Guardiola himself insisted to Sky Sports that he was being sincere when he thanked the referee for his performance.
"It was not sarcastic, it was 'thank you so much'," the boss said. "I say it all the time to my colleagues."
Fortunately for Guardiola, he will not face any punishment, which could have been anything from a fine to a touchline ban.
Now nine points behind Liverpool, the Citizens will look to recover some of that ground when they welcome Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium on 23 November.
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Source: 90min
