‘All we can do is breathe down Arsenal‘s neck‘

The derby match between Liverpool and Manchester City was a vivid one, with many chances, thrilling ending, a total turnaround from the Citizens and some debatable referees‘ decisions. And while Pep Guardiola was focused on a much needed win, which helped his team keep up with Arsenal in the title race, Liverpool manager Arne Slot talked about referee‘s decisions which he thought went against his team.

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After a 2-1 win, Guardiola confirmed that his team is still in the title race and refused to give up.

“All we can do is breathe down Arsenal’s neck, stay right there, and try to take advantage if they slip up or make a mistake. We’re playing them at home, of course—we have to beat them. Who knows whether six points will be enough, but 13 matches is a long time. The FA Cup is coming, the League Cup final as well, the Champions League returns in March and injuries will happen. There are also other teams fighting for their own objectives — European places or survival. So, from experience, 13 matches is a long period. The run-in is very, very hard, but the most important thing is to stay in the race” said Guardiola.” said the Spaniard.

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His counterpart Arne Slot had many remarks on referee‘s decisions but the biggest one was not to give a red card to Marc Guehi for pulling Mohamed Salah's shirt outside of the penalty area.

"We can talk about the decisions. I would like to talk about the one time Mo was through on goal and Guehi holds his shirt. Everyone who has been in this stadium in the last eight years knows if Mo is in that position it is a goal. So it is denial of a goalscoring opportunity. When you ask me about what decision, I thought what do you mean, the disallowed goal at City, the penalty they got in the away game against us, the clear red card on Mo Salah in the second half here, or the penalty they got in the second half, or do you mean Dominik Szoboszlai red card decision?“ said Slot.

The decision to give Liverpool‘s midfielder a red card and to deny Manchester's goal was a hard and somewhat strange, but it was the right decision, according to the rules. However, both Guardiola and Erling Haaland were ‘defending‘ Szoboszlai and thought that accepting the goal and not giving him the red card should have been the proper decision. Slot, however was OK with the decision, but wanted red card for Guehi as well.

"I can live with the fact, although I don’t like it, that the referee follows the rulebook and Dominik makes a foul on Haaland in that situation which is a clear shirt-pull and he was through on goal so he would have scored. That’s a red card. If you follow the rulebook, and you have a clear shirt-pull by Guehi on Mo Salah, who for eight years has been scoring that ball 100 times out of 100 – a bit of an exaggeration – and it is not a red card, then there is more of my frustration“ said Liverpool boss.