Guardiola suggests Old Trafford factor was key in Man Utd´s controversial equaliser

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola appeared to suggest Manchester United’s controversial equaliser in their 2-1 Premier League win on Saturday was only given because the match was played at Old Trafford.

Jack Grealish put City ahead on the hour mark, yet United drew level in contentious fashion after 78 minutes.

Bruno Fernandes curled home past Ederson as Marcus Rashford, who was in an offside position, ran onto the pass but did not touch the ball, with the initial offside decision being overruled by VAR.

The Red Devils then sealed maximum points four minutes later when Rashford turned home from close range.

Guardiola was furious with the decision to allow Fernandes’ goal, insinuating it would have not been given had the game been played elsewhere.

“Marcus Rashford is offside, Bruno Fernandes is not,” he told BBC’s Match of the Day.

“Rashford distracted our keeper and central defenders. It is what it is. We know where we play. It is difficult for the referees in these stadiums.”

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City enjoyed 70.3 per cent of the possession, yet Grealish’s goal was their only shot on target, their joint-fewest in a Premier League match under Guardiola.

Despite this, the City boss was pleased with how his side – who could find themselves eight points behind leaders Arsenal if they beat Tottenham on Sunday – equipped themselves against their neighbours.

“Congratulations to United. People will understand how nice Manchester City is. It was a fantastic game,” he added.

“We controlled the transitions better in the second half against Rashford and their fast players. We had the right spirit to do it.

“We were close and we have to improve when we concede the goal, be more stable. The gap between the first and second goal is too close.

“In general I have no regrets. I don’t care if we don’t win the EFL Cup or the Premier League, we’ll try. I don’t care when a team performs how we play. It was quite similar to the many, many years we’ve been here.

“There are plenty of points to play for and we have to play there. In every game we have to perform. We always play in these sort of games and in others we struggle a little bit.”