Pep Guardiola expressed his frustration with the new stoppage time rules following Manchester City’s loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Arsenal eventually winning 4-1 on penalties at Wembley. City had taken the lead with a goal, but Leandro Trossard’s deflected strike in the 111th minute denied them the victory.
The game saw eight minutes of added time initially, but due to the new rules aimed at combating time-wasting, referee Stuart Atwell allowed 14 minutes of additional time.
“This was a result of Kyle Walker and Thomas Partey requiring treatment for a clash of heads during the match. The extended stoppage time seemed to have an impact on the outcome of the match, leaving Guardiola visibly dissatisfied with the situation.
After the game, Guardiola expressed his frustration with the new rules: “It is not annoying, we have to get used to it. I had the feeling, not because we were winning 1-0, but just because I had the feeling that much didn’t happen to extend by eight minutes.
“But it is a good question for the international board [rule-making body, the International Football Association Board] and all the people because they don’t consult the managers, they don’t consult the players.
“What is their opinion, we have to accept it. Now the games will be 100 minutes, that’s for sure. It never happened today, and it took eight minutes. Imagine if they extended for goals every time you scored a goal in a game [that is] 4-3. You put 30 or 45 seconds on for seven goals, tomorrow morning 9 a.m. I am here playing.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta saw the other side of the argument. “It’s about effective time,” he said. “I think it’s really good to do that, because it was going too far, I think, and now teams are going to have to think twice. Now we have to be prepared to play 100 minutes because it’s going to happen every single week.”
City took the lead through Cole Palmer’s stunning effort in the 77th minute, and didn’t look threatened until Trossard’s stoppage-time strike took a huge deflection off Manuel Akanji.
Guardiola and his players would, of course, have liked to have won; City have now lost three consecutive Community Shields. However, they will take solace in the fact that in the seasons following the two previous defeats, they went on to be crowned Premier League champions.