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Pep Guardiola refused to speak about Manchester City’s links to Harry Kane and remains upbeat about Ilkay Gundogan’s injury picked up in the 3-2 loss to Brighton.
The Citizens were strong favourites to return from the Amex Stadium with all three points. And, despite Joao Cancelo’s 10th-minute red card, they were 2-0 up after 48 minutes. Gundogan’s header gave the visitors the lead after just two minutes and Phil Foden doubled the advantage on 48 minutes.
But Graham Potter’s men refused to give up and Leandro Trossard pulled one back on 50 minutes. Adam Webster drew them level with 18 minutes to go and the 8,000 fans went wild as Dan Burn won it.
Guardiola was clearly irked after the final whistle and gave just short answers to the questions. But he did appear positive that Gundogan’s knock is not as bad as first thought.
“We will see tomorrow, the doctor is optimistic, he had a kick and he was running in the second half with a disturbance so we made the change not to take a risk,” he told BBC Sport.
With the Champions League final coming up later this month, City will want the German fit and ready to go. He is by no means assured a starting berth but has developed the knack of scoring crucial goals.
On the red card, the Spanish tactician was non-committal but praised the Seagulls faithful.
“Congratulations to Brighton and their fans,” he added. “I didn’t see the red card but the nicest thing we have done together is win it [Premier League] on the pitch.”
Guardiola gives short shrift to Kane question
News broke on Tuesday that Kane wants to leave Tottenham after 11 years with the north Londoners. Speculation is rife as to where the England captain might ply his trade next term.
Any interested club will doubtless have to fork out a huge transfer fee to secure his services. That rules out all but the richest clubs and City fall into that category.
But, when asked about his club’s interest, Guardiola gave a predictably curt answer.
“Next question. He’s a Tottenham Hotspur player. Please,” he replied.
The former Barcelona boss was involved in a spat with Potter at full-time. It appeared to be over the Englishman’s reaction to his side scoring. But, once again, he refused to divulge anything to reporters.
“What I say to him is personal. Not here,” he continued.
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