Guardiola joins Man City in condemning fans for chants during Hillsborough tribute

Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City in condemning the fans who chanted during a minute’s silence for victims of the Hillsborough disaster prior to Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Wembley.

The game, which Jurgen Klopp’s men won 3-2, was the closest Reds match to Friday’s 33rd anniversary of the tragedy, which occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool in Sheffield.

A crush in the stands ultimately led to the unlawful deaths of 97 people.

Just before kick-off on Saturday, a minute’s silence in memory of the victims began but was then cut short by referee Michael Oliver as some City fans could be heard chanting.

Although seemingly a minority of City supporters, it was clearly audible throughout the stadium and led to angry boos from Liverpool fans.

A statement released by City during the game read: “Manchester City are extremely disappointed with the actions of some City supporters during the minute’s silence before today’s game.

“The club sincerely apologises to all those connected with Liverpool Football Club.”

In his post-match media conference, Guardiola was asked if he wanted to add anything to the statement made by the club.

“Absolutely,” he said. “The club made a statement, they [responsible for the chanting] don’t represent who we want to be.

“We are close to Liverpool, who went through this tragedy and I think the statement from the club represents who we are.”

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp later accepted City’s apology, saying at his news conference: “Some people didn’t understand the situation.

“It was not nice and felt really wrong in the moment. Of course we accept City’s apology.”