Pep Guardiola was angered by VAR’s controversial decision to allow Bruno Fernandes’ goal that sparked Manchester United’s thrilling 2-1 win over Manchester City on Saturday.
City took the lead through Jack Grealish’s second-half header at Old Trafford as United grabbed an equalizer in the 78th minute.
Marcus Rashford was clearly offside when he ran onto the through ball but Fernandes raced past him to fire home.
Although the goal was initially disallowed, it was eventually allowed to stand after a VAR review as Rashford did not touch the ball before Fernandes scored.
With Guardiola and his players furious that VAR had overlooked Rashford’s presence as a clear distraction for keeper Ederson, United took advantage of the champions’ loss of focus to score a late winner through Rashford.
“Marcus Rashford is offside, Bruno Fernandes is not. Rashford is bothering the goalkeeper and the centre-back,” said Guardiola.
“It is what it is. We know where we play. It is difficult to referee in this stadium.
Even United manager Erik ten Hag admitted he could understand Guardiola’s frustration with the debatable decision.
“I can also see it from the other side – of course it’s a confusing time but if you follow the rules, he doesn’t touch the ball, he doesn’t interfere and it’s a goal,” said Ten Hag.
Third-placed United are now just one point behind City after extending their winning streak to nine games in all competitions.
“We were happy at half-time but after the half-time substitution, we were no longer proactive and before I wanted to substitute, they scored,” he said.
“But the spirit in the team is huge, believe that this game is 90 minutes, and we can fight back, and they believe that they can change.”
Second-placed City can move eight points behind leaders Arsenal if the Gunners win at Tottenham on Sunday.
With spluttering City losing momentum in the title race, Guardiola added: “It was a very good game. We were close and we have to improve when we concede goals, be more stable, the gap between the first and second goals is very close.
“Generally I don’t have any regrets. I don’t care if we don’t win the Carabao Cup or the Premier League, we’ll try. I don’t care when the team does the way we play. It’s been the same for many years here.