Pep Guardiola To Serve Two-Game Touchline Ban

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is set to serve a two-game touchline ban after receiving his sixth yellow card of the season during Saturday’s FA Cup win at Newcastle United. The booking came after Guardiola confronted fourth official Lewis Smith at St James’ Park following a foul by Kieran Trippier on City’s Jeremy Doku.

New rules introduced this season stipulate that Premier League managers are suspended for one match after three yellow cards, with six cautions resulting in a two-game ban. The suspension covers league and FA Cup fixtures, but not European games or domestic cup finals, meaning Guardiola will still be on the touchline for the Carabao Cup final against Arsena lon 22 March. However, he will miss next Saturday’s Premier League clash with West Ham United and City’s FA Cup quarter-final on the weekend of 4–5 April, pending the draw.

Reflecting on the incident, Guardiola said: “I will tell you something, we have all the records in this country, all of them, despite everything. We have the record of the manager with the most yellow cards. I want all records and now I have it, two-game ban now and I will go on holidays the next two games. There are things after 10 years I cannot understand. Review the action. Of course I’m going to defend Doku and all my teams.”

Despite the setback, City’s performance on the night was largely untroubled. Guardiola’s side, making ten changes from the midweek draw with Nottingham Forest, won 3-1 to secure a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals. The victory marked City’s fourth successive win in five meetings against Newcastle this season, and their 19th triumph in 21 FA Cup ties over the past year.

Guardiola praised the display, saying: “It’s the best game we have played against Newcastle here in our period together in 10 years, in the FA Cup and a difficult one, so I’m really, really pleased how we behaved, how we played defensively, offensively and the concentration on top. Eight times in a row in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, that means how good this organisation is.”

Newcastle started brightly, taking the lead in the 18th minute when Harvey Barnes finished off a picture-perfect pass from Sandro Tonali. However, City soon turned the game around as Savinho equalised before the break and Marmoush added a brace, taking his tally against Newcastle to seven goals in five appearances.

For Newcastle manager Eddie Howe, attention quickly shifts to Tuesday’s Champions League fixture against Barcelonaat St James’ Park. On the club’s long-term ambitions, Howe said: “My focus is really short-term and it’s trying to win the game that’s in front of me, and that’s Barcelona in the Champions League. As much as it is easy to be very negative in this moment, and I understand, we’ve gone out of the FA Cup, but we have the biggest game in the club’s history coming up in no time at all. We’ve got to get the players ready for that, we’ve got no time to dwell on this.”