Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City: Pep Guardiola says crowd threw coins at him
- Published
Guardiola and the Man City players surround referee Anthony Taylor before he reviews Phil Foden's goal on the pitchside monitor
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said members of the Anfield crowd threw coins at him during his side's 1-0 Premier League defeat at Liverpool.
Guardiola said the objects were thrown in his direction after Phil Foden had a goal disallowed by VAR as City's unbeaten start to the season ended.
"The crowd tried but they didn't touch me," Guardiola told BBC Radio 5 Live. "Maybe next time they will be better."
Liverpool, meanwhile, condemned "vile" chanting from the away end.
"We are deeply disappointed to hear vile chants relating to football stadium tragedies from the away section during today's game at Anfield. The concourse in the away section was also vandalised with graffiti of a similar nature," the club said in a statement.
"We know the impact such behaviour has on the families, survivors and all those associated with such disasters.
"We are working with the relevant authorities and we will also work with Manchester City in order to do our utmost to ensure these chants are eradicated from football altogether.
Liverpool have also opened an investigation into the coin throwing.
A club spokesperson said: "We are aware of an incident involving objects being thrown into the technical area at today's game. This is totally unacceptable behaviour and not the standards of behaviour we expect at Anfield.
"This incident will be fully investigated using CCTV and those found guilty will be punished, including a lifetime ban from Anfield Stadium and a possible football banning order."
Police looking into incidents
Merseyside Police said it is "working closely" with both clubs to investigate the incidents at Anfield.
"We have been made aware that offensive and disorderly behaviour had taken place during the Liverpool v Manchester City game, including allegations of coin-throwing and offensive graffiti was sprayed in the away section," the police said in a statement.
The police also said it had been "made aware" of an allegation that City's team coach was damaged, but added "no incidents have been reported to us or that items were thrown at the coaches."
City have claimed the windscreen of their bus was damaged as it left Anfield.
"We are now working with MCFC to establish the circumstances of what happened and the allegation that damage was caused," the police added.
"Such behaviour will not be tolerated, and we are working with both clubs to identify and bring to justice anyone found responsible for committing offensive and disorderly behaviour."
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Analysis - City annoyed by Klopp pre-game comments
Simon Stone, BBC Sport
A rivalry that has been simmering for the best part of five years as Manchester City and Liverpool have battled it out for domestic supremacy has boiled over again.
Liverpool's damning allegations about the behaviour of some City supporters will create revulsion within the game and plenty of negative headlines around the current Premier League champions.
City are privately stressing they do not condone the abuse in any way.
However, they feel it cannot be viewed in isolation.
They have not forgotten how their team bus was attacked as it made its way to Anfield for the Champions League quarter-final in 2018.
Guardiola's claim he had coins thrown at him follows allegations of City coaching staff being spat at during corresponding fixtures in previous years.
And it is also clear that many Blues fans are defensive in the extreme about how their club is funded.
Whether it was fair or not, and many agreed with him, Klopp's comments about "three clubs" not having a financial ceiling in the build-up to the game annoyed senior figures at City and doubtless riled some visiting supporters, igniting passions even more at one of the most toxic fixtures in the Premier League calendar.
There is a feeling at City that what they view as Klopp's provocation was needless and made a difficult situation worse.
Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City: Pep Guardiola suggests decision hard to come by at Anfield
Tempers boil over following disallowed goal
Guardiola was furious that Foden's second-half goal - which would have put his side ahead - was ruled out by the video assistant referee for Erling Haaland's foul on Fabinho.
Responding to hearing of the coin throwing, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said: "Oh, horrible. I am sorry. I apologise for that. I had no idea about it. It never should happen, never."
Liverpool took all three points after Mohamed Salah beat City keeper Ederson with a composed finish 14 minutes from time.
As tempers boiled over in the second half, Klopp was sent off by referee Anthony Taylor following the German's vehement protests against a challenge on Salah.
"We played a really good game but this is a game where there are really fine margins and the mistakes are punished," added Guardiola.
"We made a mistake and we cannot concede and that's why we lost the game.
"We played to beat Liverpool today, definitely we played for that. After 1-0 the crowd shouted but we shouted more on the pitch.
"The referee played on, played on, played on, there were a thousand million fouls like this and this one is because we scored a goal. So they disallowed because we scored a goal, otherwise it would not have been disallowed."
Liverpool 1-0 Man City: Jurgen Klopp thought Liverpool were 'exceptional' against Man City
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