Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola made an earnest remark after his side were controversially denied a second-half penalty in a 2-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.A third goal in sky blue colours for £6...
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola made an earnest remark after his side were controversially denied a second-half penalty in a 2-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.
A third goal in sky blue colours for £64 million signing Antoine Semenyo and a much-needed goal from the returning Omar Marmoush saw Manchester City claim their first Premier League of 2026 at the Etihad Stadium.
Guardiola made five changes to his starting XI from an embarrassing Manchester City defeat to Bodo/Glimt in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, with Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Max Alleyne among those who dropped to the bench.
City made a fast start to the game as former Wolves man Matheus Nunes put in an exquisite, mouth-watering cross for Marmoush to finish home after five minutes of action – a goal that came to the relief of Guardiola following his side’s struggles in the final third this month.
Semenyo made it two in first-half stoppage time in devastating fashion after picking up the ball from Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva and finding the bottom left corner with his so-called ‘weaker’ left foot.
However, the moment of the game came after 37 minutes when Omar Marmoush picked up the ball in the Wolves box, attempted to cut back but was thwarted in his attempts to do so by the outstretched arm of Yerson Mosquera, prompting huge shouts of a penalty from the home side.
On-pitch referee Farai Hallam, who officiated his first Premier League game on Saturday, decided against a penalty and awarded a corner to City – though Hallam did eventually go over to the VAR monitor to re-think his original decision.
After a lengthy halt, Hallam stuck with his on-pitch decision as it was deemed that Mosquera’s arm was in a ‘natural position’ – much to the angst and protest of the Manchester City players, who felt it was a clear penalty.
Discussing the referee’s controversial decision to not award Manchester City a penalty in his post-match press conference, Guardiola said: “The referee (Farai Hallam) made his (Premier League) debut, now everybody will know him.
“It’s the first time, I think, he’ll go to the TV and disallow for a normal position of the arm. I’m pretty sure Howard Webb tomorrow is going to appear in the media to explain why it’s not a penalty. What they’ve done against (Manchester) United – the first time they’ve done it, because the situation was a little bit doubt, right?
“That’s why Jeremy (Doku) could not play (vs Bodo/Glimt), for the action from (Diogo) Dalot. “But it’s okay. I’m waiting tomorrow; don’t wait until Wednesday, we have UEFA Champions League; we’re busy. Howard Webb, come tomorrow, explain why it’s not a penalty.”
As Guardiola rightly said, Manchester City have too much at stake against Galatasaray next week and simply do not have the time to mull over the disallowed penalty, with three points an absolute must for the Blues in their final UEFA Champions League group-stage game after a 3-1 defeat to Bodo/Glimt in the Arctic Circle.
Category: General Sports
