Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Daniel Murphy

Pep Guardiola not pleased with late foul on Gabriel Jesus in Man City win at Watford

Pep Guardiola has expressed his annoyance with a late challenge on Gabriel Jesus in the 3-1 win over Watford on Saturday and hopes it hasn't caused the striker any serious damage.

Manchester City went to the top of the Premier League table for the first time this season after the win at Vicarage Road, leapfrogging Chelsea after they lost to West Ham earlier in the day.

Raheem Sterling broke the deadlock after just four minutes and it looked as though it would be another Watford whitewash for the Blues, but Jack Grealish squandered several chances.

Instead, it was up to Bernardo Silva to secure the win as he continued his fine form by bagging a brace, meaning Cucho Fernandez's late strike for the hosts was only a consolation.

The only downside to the game for City was when, just 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute, Jesus was the victim of a cynical, scything tackle from Craig Cathcart that left him in a heap on the pitch.

There was no intention from the Hornets centre-back to play the ball and he only aimed to prevent Jesus advancing forward, but it left him needing extensive treatment before he finally got back to his feet and limped to the sidelines.

Guardiola was furious in the dugout as he remonstrated with the fourth official and now just hopes the Brazilian will be fit for Tuesday's match against RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

"Absolutely yeah," he said when asked about the challenge by Sky Sports and was told he looked unhappy about it.

"[After] What happened in the last minutes, he cannot play. Okay maybe he’s orange [card], not yellow or red but orange. Hopefully, it’s just a knock and he can play in Germany."

He later added in his press conference: "Yeah it looked like orange at least but I'm not going to talk about refs because after six seasons I talk very few about referees."

Sign up to our City newsletter so you never miss an update from the Etihad Stadium this s eason.

We've teamed up with LiveScore to invite fans to nominate their favourite results - the games which were much more than a score. Nominate the match that mattered to you here .

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.