Liverpool vs Manchester City: Pep Guardiola will not face punishment for 'sarcastic' referee comments

Guardiola was angered by several decisions which went against City

Referee Michael Oliver and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (Getty Images)

Pep Guardiola will not face any action from the Football Association for his conduct during Manchester City’s 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.

Guardiola was angered by several decisions which went against City at Anfield, including a potential handball against Trent-Alexander-Arnold shortly before Liverpool’s opening goal.

The City manager also contested another handball shout against Alexander-Arnold in the second half, shouting “twice” at fourth official Mike Dean on the touchline.

Guardiola shook hands in an exaggerrated manner with referee Michael Oliver and his assistants at full time, telling them “thank you so much”, but later denied he was being sarcastic.

“It was not sarcastic, it was ‘thank you so much’,” the Catalan insisted after the final whistle. “I say it all the time to my colleagues.”

Jose Mourinho was fined £10,000 in 2014 during his second spell at Chelsea after he sarcastically praised officials as “fantastic” following a defeat to Sunderland.

However, the FA do not believe that Guardiola has a case to answer. The defeat at Anfield leaves City nine points behind their title rivals after 12 games.