Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said members of the Anfield crowd threw coins at him during his side’s 1-0 Premier League defeat at Liverpool.
Guardiola said the objects were thrown in his direction after Phil Foden had a goal disallowed by VAR as City’s unbeaten start to the season ended.
“The crowd tried but they didn’t touch me,” Guardiola told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Maybe next time they will be better.”
Liverpool, meanwhile, condemned “vile” chanting from the away end.
“We are deeply disappointed to hear vile chants relating to football stadium tragedies from the away section during today’s game at Anfield. The concourse in the away section was also vandalised with graffiti of a similar nature,” the club said in a statement.
“We know the impact such behaviour has on the families, survivors and all those associated with such disasters.
“We are working with the relevant authorities and we will also work with Manchester City in order to do our utmost to ensure these chants are eradicated from football altogether.”
Liverpool have also opened an investigation into the coin throwing.
A club spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident involving objects being thrown into the technical area at today’s game. This is totally unacceptable behaviour and not the standards of behaviour we expect at Anfield.
“This incident will be fully investigated using CCTV and those found guilty will be punished, including a lifetime ban from Anfield Stadium and a possible football banning order.”
Merseyside Police said it is “working closely” with both clubs to investigate the incidents at Anfield.
“We have been made aware that offensive behaviour had taken place during the Liverpool v Manchester City game, and that offensive graffiti was sprayed in the away section,” said a police statement.
“Such behaviour will not be tolerated, and we are working with both clubs to identify and bring to justice anyone found responsible for committing offensive behaviour.”
Tempers boil over following disallowed goal
Guardiola was furious that Foden’s second-half goal – which would have put his side ahead – was ruled out by the video assistant referee for Erling Haaland’s foul on Fabinho.
Responding to hearing of the coin throwing, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said: “Oh, horrible. I am sorry. I apologise for that. I had no idea about it. It never should happen, never.”
Liverpool took all three points after Mohamed Salah beat City keeper Ederson with a composed finish 14 minutes from time.
As tempers boiled over in the second half, Klopp was sent off by referee Anthony Taylor following the German’s vehement protests against a challenge on Salah.
“We played a really good game but this is a game where there are really fine margins and the mistakes are punished,” added Guardiola.
“We made a mistake and we cannot concede and that’s why we lost the game.
“We played to beat Liverpool today, definitely we played for that. After 1-0 the crowd shouted but we shouted more on the pitch.
“The referee played on, played on, played on, there were a thousand million fouls like this and this one is because we scored a goal. So they disallowed because we scored a goal, otherwise it would not have been disallowed.” BBC News
