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<\/p>\n
Solanke then produced a stunning scorpion kick to equalise and leave City six points adrift of leaders Arsenal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know we won too much and the people don\u2019t want us to win but the referee has to be neutral and for me honestly, it\u2019s not fair,\u201d Rodri told Australian broadcaster Stan Sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end, when everything is finished, we are frustrated because it\u2019s so clear the foul. He kicked the leg and of course with the push of the action on the ball, the ball goes in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to pay attention to these little things otherwise it\u2019s going to be difficult for everyone because this league is like this – it\u2019s about small details and everything counts, so I think today is a very tough day for us in this sense.\u201d <\/p>\n
Guardiola was left to bemoan Tottenham\u2019s first goal, saying: \u201cIf a central defender does it to a striker, it\u2019s a penalty.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe game was well played and sometimes for long balls and second balls you miss it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would prefer not to have the transition but an emotional issue for the first goal that the referee conceded to Spurs and after that the momentum is difficult to control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foord strikes gold while Fowler returns | 00:37<\/p>\n
Guardiola was booked for his protests and looked in disbelief when the incident was played on big screens inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.<\/p>\n
The controversial call was just the latest decision that City feel has gone against them in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Pep Guardiola claimed last week that the club\u2019s success during his golden era had come \u201cdespite\u201d decisions consistently going against his side.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one game and another game and it\u2019s not possible,\u201d added Rodri. \u201cHe anticipated the leg of Marc and it\u2019s a clear foul, but it\u2019s not today. It\u2019s two or three games in a row and I don\u2019t know why, honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n
In their previous Premier League outing, a 2-0 victory at home to last-placed Wolves, Guardiola said of debutant referee Farai Hallam: \u201cnow everyone will know him\u201d.<\/p>\n
The comment came after Hallam became the first referee of the season to ignore VAR and back his own decision to not award City a penalty for a handball.<\/p>\n
Guardiola drew much criticism for the comment, but backed his demands for an explanation as well as apologising to Hallam.<\/p>\n
Reds cop late loss as Spurs only draw | 02:33<\/p>\n
Before last week\u2019s Champions League win against Galatasaray, Guardiola said: \u201cThey defend each other with their statements, always, completely understandably \u2013 they have to do that. (Referees chief) Howard Webb defends the referees.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, at the same time, I have to defend my club. How many times last season did I criticise referees \u2013 our worst season in 10 years? How many times? It never happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgainst (Manchester) United, after the game, what were my comments about the referees?<\/p>\n
\u201cI was incredibly respectful, in 9-10 years, with the referees. Never ever \u2013 with defeats \u2013 I never comment on absolutely anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I do it, it\u2019s because I believe it\u2019s fair enough to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so sorry. If he felt offended I\u2019m so sorry,\u201d Guardiola added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s not easy on debut and it happened. I know they are sensitive, everyone. I know that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester City midfielder Rodri called on referees \u201cto be neutral\u201d in a furious tirade after their Premier League…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,183486,12045,234551,6257,234548,234549,159639,234550,2057,234547,596,6246,234555,161761,2022,11999,6255,28533,211654,3583,24938,234554,1614,668,228004,234553,85,54076,234552,73582,3586],"class_list":["post-454575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-broadcaster","tag-benjamin-sesko","tag-central-defender","tag-champions-league","tag-city-star","tag-club-world-title","tag-controversial-claim","tag-debutant-referee","tag-europe","tag-farai-hallam","tag-football","tag-football-news","tag-furious-tirade","tag-howard-webb","tag-london","tag-manchester-city-football-club","tag-manchester-united-football-club","tag-mary-fowler","tag-michael-carrick","tag-northern-europe","tag-pep-guardiola","tag-pep-guardiola-press","tag-premier-league","tag-press-conference","tag-reds-cop","tag-referees-chief","tag-sports","tag-stan-sport","tag-stunning-ref","tag-title-bid","tag-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}