1 day ago
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Manchester City midfielder Rodri picked up the baton of slamming referees after Pep Guardiola saw another decision go against him
A raging Rodri suggested it is "not possible" for Manchester City to have had the number of decisions go against them in recent matches in an astonishing speech calling out the unfair treatment of the Blues. The Ballon d'Or winner fumed that "the referee has to be neutral" as he took a swipe at people wanting City to lose.
The comments came after VAR supported the decision of referee Rob Jones not to rule out Tottenham's first goal against City on Sunday despite Dominic Solanke kicking through Marc Guehi's leg to send the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma and into the net. Pep Guardiola was critical of the call, while admitting that his team struggled to cope with the 'emotional issue' that was out of their control.
Rodri went much further, travelling the same road that his manager has done in recent weeks when suggesting that City have won silverware 'despite' the decisions that referees have given them. City's bench exploded in rage when the Guehi decision was played on the big screen at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and Rodri was similar when he saw the action in detail after the game.
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"It was a difficult game, as we expected. We started 2-0 up with an incredible effort and a very complete game but in the end the little details dictate the difference," he said. "I'm just one of the captains and today I don't know how to feel honestly seeing the images. You can't see the images on the pitch.
"It's a clear foul in the first action for the goal. It's a clear foul. And VAR is for a reason and these small details make the difference. We're trying to do our best and it's the first goal they score - maybe they don't score and we win the game. It's one game and another game and another game - and it's not possible. I never speak about referees, I respect their job massively, but they have to pay attention to these things.
"He's kicked the leg - it's so clear. He anticipated Marc and it's a clear foul. But it's not today, it's two or three games in a row and I honestly don't know why. I know we won too much and the people don't want us to win but the referee has to be neutral. For me it's not fair. It's not fair, because we work so hard and the situations now to make these decisions and we have to move on but when everything is finished you are so frustrated because the foul is so clear, he kicked the leg and with the push of the action on the ball the ball gets in.
"We have to pay attention to these little things, otherwise it is going to be difficult for everyone because the league is like this - it's about small details and everything counts. Today is a very tough day for us in this sense.
"We're going to keep fighting until the end because this is the club identity. But the reality is we need to be fair in these situations. It's not just one because we all have mistakes but when it's one, two, three, four in a row, as the manager says, it's not possible. I'm not saying the level of referees here is bad, it's great, but we have to pay attention because we work hard so that these little actions cannot make the difference and today unfortunately they did it.
"Now I am one of the captains I want to say today we feel a bit upset with this."
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