Pep Guardiola blames Man City’s two-goal collapse at Spurs on ‘fascinating’ referee decision – and groans ‘it’s happened once again’ as his side lose crucial ground to Arsenal in title race

Pep Guardiola believes refereeing inconsistency cost Manchester City again as they blew a two-goal lead at Tottenham.

The draw in north London means City have won just one of their last six games and they lie six points behind Premier League leaders Arsenal with 14 matches to play.

Dominic Solanke’s first goal came after the Spurs striker came into contact with City’s Marc Guehi, although VAR appeared more fixated on whether he had been offside in the build-up.

Guardiola has been outspoken about officials following high-profile incidents in games against Manchester United and Wolves.

‘It’s happened, once again,’ Guardiola said. ‘What can I say? Marc has the ball, he’s been kicked from behind, and it’s a goal. So what can I say? Nothing. One more.

‘If you do it to a striker it would be a penalty. I’m not a referee. Fascinating in the Premier League.’

Guardiola believes Dominic Solanke’s first goal should have been ruled out for a foul on Marc Guehi

Asked about a momentum shift during which Solanke scored a sensational scorpion kick to equalise, Guardiola added: ‘There was an emotional issue for the first goal that the referee conceded to Spurs, and after that, the momentum is difficult to control, it is whatever happens here in England.’

Guardiola was cautioned for his reaction to the goal being replayed on a big screen. He was recently suspended for an FA Cup tie against Exeter City for accumulating three yellow cards through the season.

Tottenham manager Thomas Frank admitted that the call made could have gone either way.

‘There is contact from him,’ Frank said. ‘We want a higher threshold. I understand it’s in the grey area. I’m very happy it finally dropped for us.’

Frank has welcomed Solanke back after a lengthy injury lay-off in recent weeks and insisted there is significantly more to come from the 28-year-old.

‘Dom clearly struggled to run (at the end),’ Frank said. ‘We knew it would be a big push to play 90 minutes, he’s not there fitness-wise.

‘We’ve been a little bit forced to play him. But it’s four goals in four games at 80 per cent fitness.

‘Imagine City playing without Erling Haaland for six months. We’ve been quite hard hit with injuries in general. Dom was excellent.’

Frank also confirmed that captain Cristian Romero came off at half-time with an illness that had plagued him during the midweek victory in Frankfurt.

Guardiola suggested that City captain Bernardo Silva’s hamstring problem that appeared to force him off was not serious. City face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.