Pep Guardiola makes ‘balls’ excuse for 20 Man City shots off target

Pep Guardiola has taken the Mikel Arteta route of criticising the Mitre balls used in the FA Cup after Manchester City made hard work of beating Plymouth on Saturday.

City will face Bournemouth in the quarter-finals after eventually triumphing over Argyle but they had 20 off-target shots against the Championship side.

Guardiola said: “The ball in the Champions League is exceptional, the ball in the Premier League is exceptional, this one isn’t. It’s difficult to control.

“When you lose it [sounds like] you’re complaining, but the ball is not right. In many years it’s happened in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, I know it’s a business and they come to agreements.

“You know how many shots went over? Look at other games. Normally the ball goes inside from these shots.”

The BBC did look at the other FA Cup games and claimed that ‘several Premier League sides had a higher percentage of shots on target than in their previous league matches, including Aston Villa, Crystal Palace, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Wolves and Newcastle’.

In response to Guardiola’s comments, a Football Association spokesperson said: “Mitre’s Ultimax Pro ball – used in the Emirates FA Cup and all other FA competitions – has been tested in accordance with Fifa testing.

“All footballs in the professional game are required to meet the Fifa Quality pro accreditation, and this ball delivers against all of the testing requirements.

“Alongside Mitre, we understand that preference is subjective, but we’re confident that the ball performs well. With over 350 goals scored in the knockout competition so far, it provides an exciting element to such a competitive tournament.”

Nike balls are used in the Premier League while Adidas has a contract with UEFA for the Champions League, while Mitre supply the balls for the FA Cup and Puma for the Carabao Cup.

It was that Puma ball that raised Mikel Arteta’s ire when Arsenal lost to Newcastle in the first leg of their semi-final and managed to keep just three of their 25 shots on target.

“We kicked a lot of balls over the bar, and it’s tricky that these balls fly a lot,” said Arteta at the time.

Meanwhile, Guardiola teased that Rodri could be back before the end of the season, saying: “The fans must know they are not the only ones who are excited. But one step at a time, we don’t have to make stupid decisions to come back weeks earlier and [suffer] steps back. It’s good but still he’s not close to coming back, I would say.

“But he’s touching the ball and he was in the locker room making touches with the players. He feels confident, he feels more happy. I could not expect before [him to return] but maybe before the end of the season in the Premier League, maybe, it’s going to happen.”