Pep Guardiola has accused Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of trying to influence the referee ahead of a Manchester derby showdown.
United boss Solskjaer claimed that City are guilty of ‘tactical’ fouling and warned referee Andre Marriner to be alert to it when the two sides meet on Wednesday night at Old Trafford.
Guardiola hit back at his own pre-match press conference, accusing Solskjaer of trying to get into Marriner’s head before a fixture that will have a huge impact on the visitors' title fight with Liverpool and the home side's battle to qualify for next season's Champions League by finishing in the top four.
The war of words continued with the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss responding angrily to his United counterpart’s claims, insisting he never sends his side out to deliberately foul opponents.
Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold ready to cheer on arch-rivals Man Utd vs City
“Did he say that?” said Guardiola, when told of Solskjaer’s comments. “With an average of 65 or 70 per cent with the ball, how do you do that?
“I don’t like it. I don’t like it, no. My team is not built to think and create for that, not at all. In 10 seasons as a manager, I never prepared for a game thinking about these kind of things. Never have I said to one player to make fouls to avoid something for the other ones.”
Asked if Solskjaer’s comments could influence Marriner, Guardiola said: “That’s the reason why, of course. But I don’t think so, because we don’t do that.”
Pep Guardiola fires warning to Man Utd ahead of derby showdown
Earlier on Tuesday, the United manager had warned the official to be alert to City’s perceived fouling, claiming Guardiola’s side do not get as many yellow cards as they should.
“We’ve got to be ready for their aggression, because they will snap at your ankles and heels and kick you,” said Solskjaer.
“They’re not going to allow us easy counter-attacking because there will be fouls, I have absolutely no doubt about it. When you watch those games, they commit so many players forward and will be stopping us as high as they can.
“But you don’t get the yellow cards, do you? That’s just because they commit so many players forward and you can clearly see that they’ve got them in that mould of trying to win the ball back, and they do make fouls.
“It’s not my decision, it’s the referee’s responsibility to do that.”
United have received 64 yellow cards in the Premier League this season, compared to City’s 38.
They have four red cards to the champions' one, and have committed 395 fouls compared to 291 by Guardiola’s men.
