Pep Guardiola tells Manchester City stars to ignore Premier League referees after Arsenal draw

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will tell his players they should ignore the referee's request to speak to them in midfield in future, following Arsenal's controversial first goal in their 2-2 draw.

The hosts got angry with Michael Oliver after he asked to speak to Kyle Walker about a first-half foul, calling him to the centre circle, before Arsenal were allowed to take a quick free-kick before the England defender was set and back in position.

Gabriel Martinelli was able to run along the touchline before pulling the ball back for Riccardo Calafiori to curl a shot past Ederson from the edge of the box, leaving the City contingent furious.

Guardiola kicked his chair in frustration as his captain was among the City players pleading their case to the referee, but Walker's complaints fell on deaf ears and the goal was allowed.

But the boss now wants his players to ignore any requests to leave their position on the pitch, instead calling on the referees to come to them.

“Next time I will tell my players that when the referee tells them to come and talk to me, we will not go,” he insisted. “They have to come to us.”

Guardiola also wanted a stronger deterrent to Arsenal's game management, which was seen on several occasions when players came off to kill time and slow down the pace of the game.

“I don't know how much [Arsenal] The players had cramps, but of course that can happen in a demanding match,” he said.

“We went through and through and we got Ruben [Dias]Manual [Akanji]Erling [Haaland] But when we cross, they have Declan Rice, William Saliba, Gabriel, Riccardo Calafiori, so it's very difficult. There were ten players there. In the end, we got what we deserved.

“Maybe I would have done the same thing because it's with ten men. You have to ask Mikel [Arteta] “What was the tactic? They were good with the long balls to Kai Havertz who is very strong and they tried the second balls. In the end, we were patient, we had chances and we scored the goal. That's it.”

Another worrying factor for City was the injury to crucial midfielder Rodri, who had to be helped off the pitch after falling holding his knee.

With his schedule packed, Guardiola admitted he still did not know how serious his problem was: “I don't know how he is. I haven't spoken to the doctors.”