• Chronicle: Liverpool torments the City (3-1)

Pep Guardiola's furious reaction to the fourth referee in the technical zone illustrates the impotence of Manchester City in Anfield, where the painful defeat drives him nine points behind the lead. The two fingers of his right hand referred to two possible penalties in the local area, which went unnoticed by Michael Oliver. "Ask the referees, not me. Ask Mike Riley and the VAR referees," said the Spanish coach.

It was the eighth defeat in 16 Guardiola games against Jürgen Klopp, a coach who seems to have taken the measure. The fourth at Anfield was decided after two controversies in the local area, at the beginning and end of the game. A new episode of controversy just 10 months after that decisive 2-1 in Etihad, when goal line technology thwarted Liverpool's hypothetical draw by just 11 millimeters.

The first action that irritated Guardiola came in minute 5, when a center from Bernardo Silva's right looking for Sergio Agüero stumbled on Trent Alexander-Arnold's right arm. Oliver let go and just 21 seconds later, Liverpool was ahead thanks to a great shot by Fabinho.

"You have to keep playing"

"You can hit me in the hand, but before hit Silva. They complained, but you have to keep playing. We continue and punish them," said the side 'net' about Oliver's decision.

The other play that brought the Spanish coach off the hook came in the 83rd minute, with another hand from Alexander-Arnold after a shipment by Raheem Sterling. Then, Guardiola broke out in the band, with the aforementioned gesture and a shout in his throat: "Twice!", He cried in reference to the two arbitral decisions.

After the final whistle, Guardiola went to shake hands with Liverpool players and shortly after he addressed Oliver and his assistants with a message tinged with irony: "Thank you very much." Quite calmer, the City coach wanted to highlight the performance of his players. "I would like to talk about our performance, it was very good. One of the best games we have played," he said.

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