Daniel Farke: Man City ‘bend rules’ says Leeds United manager
Daniel Farke has accused Gianluigi Donnarumma of faking an injury to “bend the rules” after Manchester City denied Leeds a valuable Premier League point at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The visitors made the worst possible start when Phil Foden scored inside the first minute and Josko Gvardiol doubled the home side’s advantage before half-time.
However, Leeds recovered after the break following a change of tactics and formation, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring immediately after the restart.
With City visibly struggling to cope with the substitutions just before Lukas Nmecha equalized, home goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma went down to receive treatment, allowing boss Pep Guardiola to call his players to the touchline and issue new instructions in the two minutes that play was stopped.
“Everyone knows why he fell,” Farke said.
“It’s not the elephant in the room. It’s obvious why he came down. It’s within the rules. It’s smart. If I like it? Within the framework of fair play? If it has to be like this, I’ll keep it to myself. It’s up to the authorities to find a solution.
“At this point I ask the fourth official if you want to do anything. Our hands are tied.
“In football, if we don’t teach our players what to do in terms of fair play, sportsmanship etc. and we try to bend the rules, or even fake injuries to get an additional team talk, that’s not something I personally like. But if it’s within the rules, I can’t complain.”
Foden’s stoppage-time winner condemned Leeds to a sixth defeat in seven Premier League games, leaving them 18th in the Premier League; Only bottom team Wolves have scored fewer senior goals this term.
But Farke, who had been criticized for a lack of adventure, particularly when it came to substitutions, was almost rewarded with a bold decision at the interval that almost turned their fortunes around.
Speaking to BBC Match of the Day, Foden said his team was only able to gather after Guardiola’s touchline conference with his players.
“We were in control in the first half. In the second half they came out, pushed us a lot higher, put two men on top of each other and changed the formation a bit,” said Foden.
“We had a really hard time catching up with the game. We got together on the sidelines, changed a few things and then everything got better. That little break was crucial to get things back on track.”
“Our manager changed the way we pressed and the way we played. From the moment we chatted you could see everything got a lot better. It was very important for him to help us go on and win the game.”
Farke added: “It’s up to the authorities to find a solution. In the sense of play, in the sense of fair play? I have my doubts.”
