Football

Guardiola blasts Carabao Cup match ball

Published

6 years ago

October 25, 2017

Olu Emmanuel

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By Boluwatife Ezekiel Olaleye

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola labelled the match ball used in the Carabao Cup “unacceptable” after his side reached the quarter-finals.

Manchester City did defeat Wolves 4-1 in a penalty shoot out after a goalless 120 minutes but not without Pep Guardiola voicing out his anger on the match ball used in the game.

Manager Pep Guardiola labelled the match ball used in the Carabao Cup “unacceptable” after his side reached the quarter-finals.

City, so dominant in the Premier League this season, were unable to find a breakthrough against Wolves on Tuesday, needing penalty shoot-out heroics from Claudio Bravo to progress after a 0-0 draw.

Guardiola was unhappy with the Mitre match ball, which is usually used in Football League matches.

“It is not acceptable. The ball was unacceptable for a high-level competition,” the Spaniard said.

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“It is too light, it moves all over the place, it is not a good ball. It is impossible to score with a ball like that and I can say that because we won, I’m not making excuses.

“All of my players said, ‘What is that?’ I’m sorry [but the] Carabao Cup is not a serious ball for a serious competition.

“It’s [for] marketing, money, OK but it’s not acceptable – [it has] no weight, nothing.”

Bravo made saves from Alfred N’Diaye and Conor Coady in the shoot-out, sealing a 4-1 win on penalties for City.