Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has been handed a two-game touchline ban following a yellow card issued against him in his side’s 3-1 FA Cup win over Newcastle.
Guardiola received the marching order, his sixth of the season, which customarily means he will miss the club’s next two games, a significant threat to his team’s surge for the league title in the campaign.
The Spaniard was booked after confronting the fourth official, Lewis Smith, on the touchline at St James’ Park after Kieran Trippier had fouled Jeremy Doku.
New regulations introduced this season mean Premier League managers are suspended for one game once they have received three yellow cards, while six cautions will result in a two-match ban.
The ban applies to league and FA Cup games but not European games or domestic cup finals, meaning Guardiola will be on the touchline for the Carabao Cup final with Arsenal on 22 March.
However, the Spaniard will have to sit out next Saturday’s league fixture with West Ham and City’s FA Cup quarter-final clash on the weekend of 4-5 April, with the draw yet to be made for that round.
After the win at Newcastle, Guardiola said of his angry reaction that led to his booking: “I will tell you something, we have all the records in this country, all of them, despite everything.
“We have the record of the manager with the most yellow cards. I want all records and now I have it, two-game ban now and I will go on holidays the next two games.
“There are things after 10 years I cannot understand. Review the action. Of course I’m going to defend Doku and all my teams.”
