Spanish tactician Pep Guardiola made headlines after his side’s emphatic victory to announce their return to the Premier League. Manchester City played Leeds United in game week 17 of the Premier League and returned to winning ways. The blue half of Manchester went into the fixture eight points behind league leaders Arsenal. Courtesy of a 3-1 victory, they were able to reduce the deficit back to just 5 points.
A beautiful team goal 👌@ErlingHaaland’s 20th league goal of the season! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/YgjHq58tUy
— Manchester City (@ManCity) December 29, 2022
Erling Haaland scored a brace while Jack Grealish assisted his teammate on both occasions. Haaland’s two goals added to the lead that Rodri gave to City just before halftime. The Yorkshire outfit was able to get a consolation as Pascal Struijk pulled one back but ultimately succumbed to defeat.
The thunder, however, was stolen by Pep Guardiola as he was recorded kicking a plastic water bottle into the Leeds United dugout. Even though the Spaniard sprinted to apologize after realizing his mistake, fans took the incident to be quite comical.
Why was Guardiola upset?
Defending champions Manchester City is known to take the game to the opposition and choke the opponents into making mistakes. They are a hard-working side, and Pep Guardiola is known to run a tight ship. The Spaniard loves to stick to plan and expects his players to do the same.
Even though City was able to breeze past Leeds United, The Peacocks made it amply difficult for Guardiola‘s side to gain a foothold in the contest. Jesse Marsch’s men proved to be a tough nut to crack with their relentless pressing. Adding to that, Man City proved to be quite wasteful as Jack Grealish missed a couple of sitters. Erling Haaland could have had more than just two goals if it wasn’t for the missed chances.
He’s comedy gold pic.twitter.com/OA7bXpvPIz
— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) December 28, 2022
Late into the game, despite his side’s sheer dominance, the 51-year-old couldn’t help being irritated at the wasted opportunities. It couldn’t have been a pleasant night for the water bottles. One of the bottles was thrown into the ground by Guardiola after a missed chance. On the second time of asking, the Spanish coach booted the water bottle straight into the Leeds dugout.
It seems that it wasn’t his intention for the bottle to fly into the opposition’s dugout. He immediately realized his mistake. What followed was the 51-year-old putting his hands over his head as he sprinted to apologize.
Soccer fans react to Pep Guardiola’s viral act
The internet loves Guardiola and all his shenanigans on the touchline and in press conferences. The Spaniard makes for a comical figure, featuring in more memes than he’d probably like to. After yesterday’s incident, the internet erupted with fans enjoying a laugh or two at Pep’s expense.
Under a Reddit post, a fan wrote, “Never change Pep,” while another took a shot at two birds with one stone while commenting: “Better striking than Grealish tonight.” Another fan mentioned, “Didn’t want the Wenger treatment.” This was a reference to former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger being sent off after losing his temper and kicking a bottle at Old Trafford in a game against Man United in 2009.
Pep Guardiola accidentally booted a water bottle at someone on the Leeds United bench in anger 😭 pic.twitter.com/cBmFXJIDp5
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) December 29, 2022
“Disgusting act. His club should have all trophies since 2017 revoked as a result,” was the sarcastic reaction of another fan. One fan, jokingly impressed by Guardiola’s actions commented, “Class act.”
Despite a mistake being committed on Guardiola’s part, it seems that all was forgiven after he went to apologize. Manchester City won the game with a 3-1 score line at full time. The Manchester club now sits at 35 points in the Premier League table, five points behind League leaders Arsenal.