Pep Guardiola addresses his yellow card in Man City defeat to Newcastle

Pep Guardiola has admitted the yellow card given to him by the referee during Manchester City’s defeat at Newcastle United was deserved.

City’s hopes of reclaiming the Carabao Cup for the first time since 2021 were stopped in their tracks on Wednesday as they were beaten 1-0 at St. James’ Park. It was one of those days for the Blues in which they completely dominated proceedings in the first half but didn’t make it count.

The home side came out fighting after the break and grabbed the only goal of the game as Alexander Isak pounced at the back-post. City were rocked by the intensity of their opponents and the crowd and tempers began to flare, with Guardiola being brandished a yellow card by referee Chris Kavanagh after remonstrating with the fourth official.

Upon the full-time whistle, the manager made a beeline for Kavanagh to further express his annoyance with the official, which was later revealed to be due to the lack of bookings given to Newcastle. Asked about his own caution after the match, Guardiola admitted he had earned it.

“I don’t know how many fouls they did, how many fouls we had and the number of yellow cards,” he said. “But it is what it is, sometimes the emotions are there. Respect for the referees and their job. A well-deserved yellow card.”

Asked about the incident in the dug-out, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe explained everything was in good fun. “It was all friendly very nice lighthearted, no problems but both teams wanted to win. A lot of high-quality play.”