Guardiola mocks how VAR works

"The organizers should review how VAR works," Pep Guardiola said later.Tottenham 2-2 drawin round 2 of the Premier League yesterday, August 17.

"Chelsea's Christensen handled the ball against Liverpool in midweek and was not penalised, but we were unfairly denied a goal because it was unclear whether the ball touched Laporte's hand or not. Wolves also had a goal disallowed last week because of a handball, and Tottenham's Fernando Llorente eliminated us from the Champions League last season with a handball. Why is there such inconsistency? Those plays are similar but each time they make different decisions," the Man City coach continued.

Gabriel Jesus fired past Hugo Lloris in the second minute of stoppage time. But the goal was disallowed after the referee consulted VAR and determined that the ball had touched Aymeric Laporte's hand before finding the Man City striker. Guardiola also accused VAR of missing Erik Lamela's foul on Man City's new signing Rodri at the end of the first half.

"It was clearly a penalty," the Man City manager said. "Rodri went down, but VAR seemed to be having a coffee at the time. Everyone saw it was a penalty. The big bosses of the league are from London, you ask them. It's difficult to accept the draw because we played well and should have scored a good goal at the end."

Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris echoed Guardiola's sentiments about Man City's late goal being ruled out. "To be honest, I thought it was a goal. The referee was so sure of his decision at first, and then VAR ruled it out. Man City were very unlucky," he said.

His coach, Mauricio Pochettino, said: "We accept the rules of the game, because Tottenham will also receive unfavorable decisions in the future. VAR decided it was a handball situation and we need to respect that. The emotions at Etihad this match were as exciting as in the Champions League last season, we thought we had no chance, but in the end we benefited from VAR."