Pep Guardiola revealed his frustration at an Ederson yellow card last month as he suggested Newcastle United would be allowed to get away with wasting time against Manchester City.
There has been plenty of focus on Newcastle’s gamesmanship this season, with Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag describing the Magpies as “annoying” ahead of the EFL Cup final.
When the topic was raised with Guardiola, however, he preferred to fume about punishment dished out to his goalkeeper in the top-of-the-table clash with Arsenal.
“If [there is] a waste of time, we will have a yellow card for Ederson,” Guardiola said. “Don’t worry.
“We are the team with the least waste of time, and the first time we go to Arsenal away, after 35, 37 minutes, we got a yellow card, so don’t worry about wasting time.”
If Newcastle were allowed to get away wasting time at the Etihad Stadium in Saturday’s early kick-off, Guardiola suggests that would be nothing new for City’s opponents.
“It depends on the referee, but I’m pretty sure the yellow will be for Ederson,” he said.
“How many thousand million games [do] teams come to the Etihad Stadium and waste time with their keepers? Twenty seconds every time – the goal-kick – and nothing happens. Absolutely nothing.
“And after, we go there [to Arsenal], we want to be active to play and we get a yellow card.”