‘Welcome to the Premier League and referees’ – Guardiola upset after Gonzalez injury goes unpunished

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola believes Saturday’s match at Leyton Orient “was a typical FA Cup game” in an “unbelievable” competition.

The Cityzens avoided a real FA Cup scare at Brisbane Road on Saturday afternoon, coming from behind to win 2-1.

They trailed at half-time after Jamie Donley’s 50-yard chip hit the underside of the bar and bounced off City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega to cross the line.

Abdukodir Khusanov equalised shortly after the break when Rico Lewis’ shot hit him before substitute Kevin De Bruyne popped up with a late winner.

Despite nearly being on the wrong end of an FA Cup upset, Guardiola said after the fourth round win that his players “played a really good game”.

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“We played a really good game, it was a typical FA Cup game – that’s why this competition is unbelievable,” the Spaniard said.

“We knew that they were strong and they’d run in the channels. They are a really good team and incredibly well managed but we created a lot of chances. I’m happy to go through.

“I don’t think so,” Guardiola replied when asked if his side struggled in the opening 45.

“The first 10/15 minutes maybe but after the fantastic goal that they had – we took the game and created a lot of chances.”

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Guardiola was also asked if it was frustrating feeling forced to bring Phil Foden and match-winner De Bruyne off the bench.

He said: “Absolutely not, that is why they are here. We talk this competition incredibly seriously and we thought it was the best decision to make. I am happy for Kevin’s goal, his movement was really good.”

One negative for City was that January signing Nico Gonzalez was forced off in the 22nd minute after injuring his back.

He went down under a challenge that led to Donley’s outrageous opener and failed to recover; the referee did not give a foul, which Guardiola was very unhappy with.

“Welcome to the Premier League and the referees,” Pep said.

“Maybe he knew about the referees because I understand it’s not easy. It’s not easy to do something when you play against teams like in League One.”

Speaking shortly after full-time, City full-back Rico Lewis revealed that his manager did not lose his cool when 1-0 down at half-time.

“He (Guardiola) wasn’t going mad or anything like that,” he told BBC. “He knew we’d created chances and it’s about keeping going in an environment like this.

“Credit to Leyton Orient, they made it difficult for us to play. It’s easy to say it’s tougher than you think but we all know they’re tough. The crowd are right up for it.

“It’s Man City at the end of the day, the demands are so high. There’s enough leadership in this team. Going from attack to defence is difficult, there’s a lot of ground to cover. It’s all about trust.

“The season hasn’t panned out how we wanted it to. Every game now, as long as we win, it could be a great season for us.

“Everyone does want us to get beat, apart from City fans of course. It’s pressure on our shoulders. Everyone settled their heads at half-time.”

City face Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday and Lewis said: “It’s a huge game, the name itself tells you the story. It’s a game you see every year at the moment, whether that’s in the quarter-finals or the semi-finals.”

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