Pep Guardiola’s reaction to Joao Cancelo’s sending off against Fulham says it all after the defender’s dismissal on Saturday.
The Manchester City star was given his marching orders by referee Darren England in the 26th minute after he was deemed to have denied a clear goalscoring opportunity for the visiting Cottagers. Harry Wilson was through on goal before the recovering Cancelo sent him crashing to the turf with a shove from behind.
Despite his protestations, the decision was not overturned by VAR, with Andreas Pereira converting the resulting spot-kick to pull Fulham level after Julian Alvarez had earlier opened the scoring.
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As Cancelo made his way off the pitch, Guardiola’s reaction to the sending off was captured, with the Spanish gaffer rolling his eyes. Meanwhile, Cancelo could be seen shrugging as he continued to protest the decision.
Fans were divided over the decision on social media, with one tweeting: “In the back, no clear attempt to play the ball, and he denied a goal-scoring opportunity. The definition of a red card.”
Meanwhile, another added: “It was a red he made no attempt to play the ball and he was last man. It was stupid.”
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(Image: GETTY)
(Image: twitter/ESPNFC)
In contrast, one fan tweeted: “Games gone entirely way too soft.” Another also wrote: “How was that a red.”
City continued to be frustrated by Fulham after the sending off as they pushed for a goal to re-establish their lead at the Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola was even forced to bring Erling Haaland and Phil Foden off the bench in the second half in search of a winner and the former had the ball in the back of the net just minutes later, only for it to be ruled out for offside by VAR.
Haaland eventually netted a winner for City, though, slotting a penalty under Bernd Leno in stoppage time after Kevin de Bruyne was tripped. The result sends Guardiola’s side top of the league ahead of Arsenal’s clash with Chelsea on Sunday.
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