The City boss previously mentioned that the Senegal international had been guilty of diving following his booking at Aston Villa on the weekend, where the forward went on to score the winning header in their 2-1 victory over Dean Smith’s side.
However, Guardiola has now gone back on his comments, stating that Liverpool’s last-minute goal against Leicester last month was indeed lawful, after the forward was fouled inside the box and the resulting penalty was scored.
“In the 94th minute it was against Leicester, it was a penalty and it was wow,” Guardiola said at a press conference on Tuesday, as quoted by the Guardian.
“That was the intention for my comment. Far away from my intention to say Sadio is this type of player because I admire him a lot.
“Jürgen said he knows Sadio better than me. And I have an incredible respect and the message in the football always try to be like this, always positive and attractive. My son and my daughter, when they win in the last minutes, they ask me how lucky they are. I say it’s not lucky.
“What Liverpool have done last season and this season many times is because they have this incredible quality and this incredible talent to fight until the end. Hopefully I can clarify everything for Jürgen.
“That’s why I said to my players, not just my son and my daughter, that it is not lucky. It happens once or twice in a life then yes [it is], but this happens maybe 10 or 12 or 13 times.”
Manchester City will take on Klopp’s side on Sunday in what will be a tense clash between the two current leaders. As it stands, Liverpool are six points ahead of City in the table and are unbeaten in their past 45 league games at Anfield.
Source : 90min