Kevin de Bruyne vented his frustration at Pep Guardiola after being taken off during Manchester City’s 1-1 draw at Liverpool.
De Bruyne, 32, was substituted for Mateo Kovacic in the 69th minute as Guardiola looked to change the course of the match with Liverpool starting to take control.
City had opened the scoring through John Stones in the first-half – turning home De Bruyne’s smart corner kick – before Alexis Mac Allister equalised for Liverpool moments after the interval. Guardiola decided to make a change with Liverpool in the ascendancy.
De Bruyne and Julian Alvarez both made way and the Belgian was not pleased with the decision – making his feelings very, very clear.
As De Bruyne walked off to take his seat on the bench, he threw his arms up in the air and appeared to vent his anger at Guardiola. He then continued to make his annoyance clear as he shouted across at members of the City coaching staff once Guardiola had sat down.
Reacting to the incident, Gary Neville said, “Well that tells you all you need to know about how Liverpool are controlling this game. He’s having a little whinge at Pep Guardiola, well actually it’s a big whinge! He’s still going, look”.
“This ground does something to them, we know how good City are, they’re one of the best teams in the world but Anfield never goes well for them and it hasn’t in this second half.”
Guardiola and De Bruyne continued to debate over the decision when the City boss took a seat next to his talisman on the subs’ bench. De Bruyne used hand gestures to try and explain his point of view, while Guardiola uttered a few words into his ear before leaving and returning to the touchline.
Liverpool pushed to grab a winner, with Luis Diaz spurning the best chance after being played through on goal by Mohamed Salah, only to curl the ball wide of target. City almost nicked it themselves as Jeremy Doku’s fine effort struck the inside of the post and bounced to safety.
The Reds then claimed a penalty in the dying enviers as Mac Allister went down inside the box. But referee Michael Oliver waved away appeals and VAR were also not interested.
Asked about the De Bruyne issue, Guardiola said it wasn’t a problem that De Bruyne came off frustrated and unhappy.
“That’s good,” he proclaimed. “Have a chance next game to prove it. We need a player who keeps the ball. It’s not about pressing. Kovacic is really good at that. We were happy with Kevin. It’s not a problem. We’re fine.”
The draw at Anfield leaves Arsenal top of the table, one point clear of Liverpool, with City a further point back in third.