Man City's recent game against Everton ended in a comfortable 3-1 win for Guardiola's side, however, the result of the game could be completely different if not for the penalty.
Things shifted when Nathan Ake's shot seemed to touch Amadou Onana's hand in the penalty area, leading to a penalty kick awarded by referee John Brooks. Julian Alvarez scored from the spot, and Bernardo Silva added a third, pushing Pep Guardiola's team into the top four.
However, this penalty was quite bizarre to say at least: Onana's hand is close to his face, it doesn't increase the body size, and moreover, if not for the hand, the ball would just hit the player's face, it wasn't even going into the goal.
Sean Dyche, former referee and Liverpool fans shared their thoughts on this moment.
Sean Dyche
Quoted by Daily Mail, he said: "We can debate the penalty all day. It has been by managers on Zoom calls to say it's a farce but that's the way it goes. That's completely natural. He's not putting his arm up to save it, he's literally jumping in to try to block the ball. How that is given as a penalty is bizarre in my world but I must be from a different planet."
"Tonight the linesman gives that and he's 18 yards away so I don't know who is giving what any more. Who knows? All the managers are debating it. Someone needs to stand up at some point and realise that can't be a penalty because he's just throwing himself in front of it to try to block the ball, that's it."
Mark Clattenberg
Former referee Mark Clattenberg spoke to Amazon Prime about the decision: "It changed the game, it was a big decision. When you block a shot on goal with an outstretched arm even though he's trying to block the ball because it's a shot on goal this is where referees will always look to penalise as a penalty."
"Do I agree with it? I don't but we've been discussing handle ball for many many years and we still no further forward of actually improving in, one week its given one week its not, is it deliberate is it not."
Liverpool fans
LUCAS: "This is how Manchester City get through games. You can’t tell me there isn’t officiating against us, corruption is real."
Mr.M: "They can call it the City League at this point."
Joel Smith: "It’s been blatant for years and this season just disgustingly obvious but how do we make more of a statement to say we won’t stand for it. The fans and the club need to do something to cause a change otherwise it’ll go unpunished for a long long time."
Mikeshashimi: "Just give the title to City already. What's the point? They cheat on and off the field."
This penalty really changed the game, as it seemed like Everton could secure some points for themselves and help Liverpool get more points ahead of Man City.
