Pep Guardiola expressed his desire for an explanation from referees’ chief Howard Webb following a post-match tirade regarding the disallowed goal by Antoine Semenyo in the recent Manchester City victory over Newcastle United on Tuesday.
City made significant progress toward the Carabao Cup final with a 2-0 triumph over the reigning champions at St James’ Park in the first leg of the semifinal.
Despite the win, Guardiola was frustrated by a VAR review that dragged on for nearly six minutes before ultimately disallowing Semenyo’s second goal of the evening.
The City manager voiced his annoyance, particularly because the video assistant referee did not award a penalty to Phil Foden after a late challenge from Fabian Schär during Newcastle’s 2-1 victory over City in November.
The Key Match Incidents Panel later confirmed it was an error not to grant Foden a penalty.
“I need to know why VAR didn’t consider the clear penalty on Schar for Phil Foden in the Premier League match at Newcastle, where we lost 2-1. It was an obvious foul,” Guardiola stated. “Today, the VAR team could not reach a decision after reviewing the footage for such a long time, while the decision on the second goal Newcastle scored seemed flawless. I’ve never been suspicious of that in the past ten years. I stayed quiet when we lost 2-1 here.”
“I’m confident Howard Webb will come by tomorrow to explain that situation.”
Guardiola also mentioned an incident from May’s FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, where goalkeeper Dean Henderson appeared to handle the ball outside the penalty area, which he felt warranted a red card.
“I didn’t raise any issues in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, even though it should have resulted in a red card for Henderson 30 minutes in. I stayed silent. Everything is alright,” he remarked. “In ten years of losing in semifinals in major competitions, I’ve kept my remarks to myself, aside from a few comments on the touchline. But I haven’t brought it up in a press conference.”
The return leg is scheduled for February 4 at the Etihad Stadium, with the winner set to face either Chelsea or Arsenal in the final.