Daniel Farke suggested Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma went down with a “fake injury” that allowed Pep Guardiola to give his players a team talk before they rallied to snatch a 3-2 Premier League win over Leeds.
After City bossed the first half at the Etihad Stadium, leading through Phil Foden’s goal just 59 seconds in before Josko Gvardiol doubled the advantage, momentum shifted entirely in the second half as half-time substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin got Leeds back into it with their first goal.
The score was still 2-1 to City when Donnarumma called for the physios, with Guardiola immediately gathering his players around him as he sought to adjust to a change of shape from the visitors.
His team talk did not stop Leeds drawing level after Gvardiol conceded a penalty from which Lukas Nmecha scored on the rebound from a Donnarumma save, but City eventually prevailed as Foden struck again in stoppage time.
Even though his side went on to equalise, Farke felt there was a shift in the game after Donnarumma received attention.
“It is within the rules,” the German said. “It is smart. If I like it, if it is in the sense of fair play, if it should be like this, I keep it to myself and I leave it to the authorities to find solutions for it. It is within the rules.
“I asked the fourth official at this point if you want to do something and he said: ‘No, our hands are tied, we can’t do anything’.
“If we don’t educate our players in football, what to do in terms of fair play, sportsmanship, if you just try to bend the rules to your advantage and you can do a fake injury in order to do an additional team talk, it is nothing I personally like but if it is within the rules I can’t complain about it.”
Guardiola’s team talk did not immediately solve City’s problems but after Nmecha’s equaliser City cranked up the pressure late on with Foden eventually finding the breakthrough.
Guardiola said he had believed Donnarumma’s injury was genuine, instructing James Trafford to warm up in case he was required.
“I didn’t speak with Gigio,” he said. “When it happened I looked back to the dugout and said ‘James, warm up’. I don’t know. Next press conference you can ask me and I will ask Gigio.”
City had come into the game off back-to-back defeats against Newcastle and Bayer Leverkusen, and conceding a two-goal lead to draw against a relegation-threatened side would have been another huge blow to their title credentials.
“It was a relief,” Guardiola said of Foden’s winner. “The game was not perfect in the first half but it should be over with the chances we had, we didn’t concede and after that they damaged us with the system like Leverkusen has done with a 5-3-2.
“Then we conceded the first goal and the way we have to move is completely different.
“Football is emotions. We conceded the second and after we made a step up. We reacted really well. We had to put the ball quickly in the box. With the full-backs, wingers, it doesn’t matter and in the end it’s the quality of Phil. When he arrives in these positions he can shoot or pass it in.”
