Guardiola confronts Crystal Palace goalie after FA Cup loss

LONDON (AP) — Pep Guardiola confronted Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson on the field after Manchester City’s shock FA Cup final loss on Saturday.

The City manager was unhappy about Henderson’s perceived time wasting during the match.

Guardiola was heated as he repeatedly approached Henderson after the final whistle at Wembley Stadium.

“Listen, he defend his position, we defend our position,” Guardiola said. “I understand in the last minutes (time wasting), but since the one or two minutes … he’s British. You know in English football you have to play.

“Everyone can do what they want. You have to score goals. We didn’t lose because Henderson was time wasting.”

Guardiola added: “In my teams I never tried (time wasting) because I try to play the game the people deserve to watch.”

Eberechi Eze scored the winner for Palace and Henderson was also a hero by saving Omar Marmoush’s first half penalty.

“We had a feeling it would be our day today,” Henderson said. “The manager got a gameplan and we executed it. We deserve this so much.”

He was also involved in a contentious moment earlier in the match when handling the ball outside the box to deny Erling Haaland a chance.

Guardiola refused to comment on the incident, but Palace manager Oliver Glasner was happy to.

“I thought ‘Why you don’t kick the ball?’” he joked. “I had my fingers crossed that the VAR doesn’t intervene. Everything worked.”

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer