Pep defends Aguero after red; unhappy with refs

Rob Conlon

Pep Guardiola expressed his unhappiness with English referees after Manchester City were beaten by Chelsea.

Second-half goals from Diego Costa, Willian and Eden Hazard saw Chelsea triumph 3-1 at the Etihad, while City ended the match with nine men after Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho were sent off in stoppage time.

City led 1-0 at half-time thanks to Gary Cahill’s own-goal, but Guardiola voiced his frustration that referee Anthony Taylor failed to penalise David Luiz after the defender blocked Aguero’s run.

“I was asked to come and train here and it is a pleasure to be in this country. But I just don’t understand the processes,” he said.

Aguero was sent off for a nasty lunge on David Luiz, but Guardiola suggested the striker was unlucky to be see red.

“Both players were strong there – that’s all,” he said.

The Spaniard did, however, praise the visitors’ display, adding: “Congratulations to Chelsea – they won. We played really good, had a lot of control and created chances. But the ball in the box was not strong enough.

“Chelsea’s approach was really different but that is part of the game. You don’t expect Chelsea to create 25 chances. They created three and scored three.”