However, the victory was marred by the conduct of the home fans, who were heard jeering loudly when the match was paused in the first half to allow City’s Muslim players to move to the touchline to break their Ramadan fast at sunset. Guardiola accused those involved of displaying a profound lack of respect, saying: “It’s the modern world, right? You know what happened in the world again today. Respect religion, respect diversity. That is the point.
“The Premier League said you can have one or two minutes. It is what it is, unfortunately. What is the problem? No.” Guardiola blew sarcastic kisses towards the Leeds faithful at the final whistle, having endured relentless abuse from the home stands throughout the match.
The Spaniard acknowledged he had been called a “wa***er”, though attempted to brush it aside, adding: “They said something to me, yeah. Like ‘wa**er, wa**er’. My family was there. But anyway. It is what it is. It was intense, but we expected it. We showed we are together.
“We needed to be calm and make them run. We found what we wanted. We had incredible focus. It’s a huge victory for us.”
Further controversy erupted after the final whistle, when players from both sides had to be separated. Leeds boss Daniel Farke was shown a red card for storming onto the pitch to confront referee Peter Bankes and his officials regarding several decisions which went against his side.
Farke did not appear at the post-match press conference, instead delegating the responsibility to his assistant Edmund Riemer. Riemer acknowledged the club’s disappointment over the jeering during the Ramadan break.
He said: “I was focused on the game, so I didn’t really hear it. But disappointed with some supporters that that happened.” Riemer added in his press conference: “Obviously some of the supporters did it, so we try to learn out of it. It’s disappointing. We need to do better next time.”
Addressing Farke’s dismissal, he added: “I had a short chat (with Farke). Six minutes added time, they (City) were time-wasting and there were incidents.
“So he was emotional in terms of going on the pitch and asking. Maybe he did it in a too aggressive manner, I would think. I am disappointed because he’s never a manager who’s over-aggressive or overreacting. I think it’s a very harsh decision.”