Guardiola responds after being asked about clash with Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez after Man City draw
Pep Guardiola has given a three-word response after being embroiled in a verbal spat with Darwin Nunez in Liverpool's 1-1 Premier League draw against Manchester City on Saturday (25 November).
The game lacked significant goal-mouth action, especially compared to some of the matches between the two teams in the Jurgen Klopp-Guardiola era. But it had its moments, with both managers trying to outsmart the other tactically.
Eventually, the Cityzens had to settle for a draw despite leading the game for over 50 minutes. Erling Haaland's 27th-minute strike was canceled out by a sublime finish from Trent Alexander-Arnold 10 minutes from time.
After the game, Klopp and Guardiola, as they usually do after a Manchester City-Liverpool encounter, embraced each other on the touchline. And while Nunez initially shook hands with Guardiola, he seemed to have said something that irked the Manchester City boss.
Nunez didn't stop despite a number of Liverpool's staff members trying to contain him. While the interaction did not escalate into physical confrontation, it was evident that the Uruguayan striker was frustrated about something.
Fans had no clue about what transpired between the two, and Guardiola, in his post-match interview, also refused to divulge any details about the incident. When asked about what happened with Nunez, he just said, via Sky Sports (h/t Fabrizio Romano):
"Nothing happened there"
It seems that the former Barcelona manager has already put the incident behind him. The Cityzens, at least for now, remain on top of the tree with 29 points from 13 matches, with the Reds trailing them by a solitary point.
Darwin Nunez's numbers in Liverpool's 1-1 draw against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City
During the game, Darwin Nunez, as he usually does, found himself in goal-scoring positions several times. But he failed to make any of those chances count.
Only Erling Haaland (5) had more shots than Nunez (4) during the match. The Uruguayan's best chance came just a few minutes after the half-hour mark when his header from a Mohamed Salah cross was saved by Ederson.
Nunez also recorded the second-highest xG (0.42) during the match. But apart from that, Manchester City did well to stop the Liverpool forward from getting too involved in the build-up play.
Nunez completed just 10 of his 14 passes and lost six duels, winning just one. He has now gone three Premier League games without scoring but still boasts a decent return of seven goals and six assists in 18 games across competitions this season.