Pep Guardiola reveals he warned Erling Haaland not to get sent off as Man City drew with Everton

Pep Guardiola admitted that he had to warn Erling Haaland against being sent off in a stormy 1-1 draw against Everton.

A frustrated Haaland was booked for lunging at Vitaliy Mykolenko midway through the first half after being caught earlier by Ben Godfrey and then left James Tarkowski on the ground with one arm flailing as he guarded the ball.

Guardiola did not directly criticize referee Andy Madley, but did hint that City hope their players are not protected.

Pep Guardiola reveals he told Erling Haaland to be careful after the striker was booked in Manchester City’s draw with Everton on Saturday

‘It was a (deserved) yellow card for Haaland. He was a little angry at the first action on his ankle (by Godfrey). I told him to be careful because we can’t play 10v11 and he reacted well.

‘We are Manchester City. We have to do our best, but I know what happened. Against Leeds, three or four fouls on Jack Grealish and nothing happened.

‘I don’t want a relationship with the referees. I don’t want to be there at the meetings. I do not care. They do their job, that’s fine.

Haaland scored his 21st league goal of the season to give City the lead, but Everton equalized with a stunning long-range shot from Damarai Gray.

The referee admonished the 22-year-old ace for his tackle on Vitalii Mykolenko

City have only taken one point from six at The Etihad after also losing to Brentford, but Guardiola was positive about his players as they continue to trail Arsenal in the table.

“We played a really good game but they scored a fantastic goal with the first shot they had,” said the City manager. ‘The result was not as expected, but this is football.

Everton’s approach against us was different to Liverpool’s, they broke the rhythm, but this is the Premier League. It is a strategy for the opponent. It’s tough against eight guys who are in your 18-yard box all the time.”

Frank Lampard praised his players after Demarai Gray’s second-half equalizing goal earned them a point at the Etihad.

Frank Lampard made no apologies for Everton’s abrasive and defensively powerful performance. “It’s hard to do that for a hundred minutes, particularly against the champions after a fool’s blow against Wolves on Boxing Day. It’s a big problem for our dressing room.

In a game of seven yellow cards, Demarai Gray silenced The Etihad with a stunning curling strike after 64 minutes to earn a point for his side.

“Tielemans scored a goal like that at Goodison and the stadium was dead,” Lampard added. ‘Damarai has the ability, it’s all about putting him in those positions more often. Next up for him is getting more connections too.