After Manchester City gave up an equalizer to Arsenal in the 101st minute of their encounter, Pep Guardiola issued a warning about the negative effects of prolonging football games.
To combat time-wasting throughout the game, eight additional minutes were added during the second half at Wembley. However, a collision of heads during that period necessitated additional stoppages. Long after most games had ended, Leandro Trossard’s shot was deflected in. In the ensuing shootout, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne both missed, resulting in a Gunners victory.
Guardiola was spotted speaking to the official as eight went up on the scoreboard on Sunday. He had already said before the game that adding extra time was not the solution it was being touted as. The City manager joked that everyone would be playing overnight in high-scoring games by claiming that too much time had been put into a change that hadn’t been approved by the players and coaches.
Although it was inconvenient, we must adapt. I got the impression that not much occurred during the extra eight minutes, not because we were winning 1-0.
“With this many games, we have to accept it, but it’s a good question for the international board and individuals since they don’t discuss it with managers and players. The new game length is 100 minutes. There were eight minutes today, and nothing happened.
“They reach for the goals. If you win 4-3, you have 45 seconds to score seven goals, and I’ll still be playing tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock.
Guardiola and Mikel Arteta share similar football ideologies, and Arteta served as Guardiola’s assistant for more than three years before accepting the Arsenal position. The Arsenal boss did, however, say that he supports the overall change.
“It’s about effective timing, and doing that is incredibly helpful because it was getting out of hand. Teams will now pause for thought.