Pep Guardiola mentioned Liverpool midfielder James Milner when asked about an incorrect penalty decision in Manchester City’s 6-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk.
It was an easy victory for City in a dominant performance over their Ukrainian opponents but they were handed a boost when the referee gave them a bizarre penalty decision.
Raheem Sterling fell over in the area when he kicked the ground under no challenge but the referee, Viktor Kassai, awarded the spot-kick which Gabriel Jesus converted.
When it was pointed out that maybe Sterling could have told the official that he had made a mistake, Guardiola dug up an incident involving Milner from their Champions League clash against Liverpool last season.
“He could do that [admit the mistake],” Guardiola said.
“But last season Liverpool… Milner could say that the pass to the second goal in the 44th minute it was a legal goal.
“But Mateu Lahoz didn’t want to concede that goal, so that’s why it happened, but he [Sterling] could do that, yes.
“We don’t like to score a goal in that situation but [Sterling] didn’t realise.
“The referee at the end realised. The Spanish referee Mateu Lahoz, he realised, he didn’t want to concede.
“But in that situation [Sterling] didn’t realise because he wanted to chip, caught the grass, goes down, it’s not a penalty.”
