“Mikel Arteta’s black magic is real”- Silly Rodri have handed Mikel Arteta a huge advantage after a violent conduct that got him suspended for the match against Arsenal for one of the most ‘embarrassing fouls’ of the season

Man City lose Rodri for crucial games after being sent off following “incredible” reaction

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola must now make do without his best and most consistent midfielder for some tough upcoming matches after the Spaniard’s clash with Morgan Gibbs-White on Saturday

Manchester City’s Rodri will miss three matches after being sent off for grabbing Nottingham Forest ’s Morgan Gibbs-White around the neck.

The Spain star, arguably the best midfielder in the Premier League over the last 18 months, was red carded just 27 seconds after half-time on Saturday following an incident near the corner flag. He will miss matches against Newcastle United, Wolves and Arsenal, his dismissal for violent conduct coming with an automatic three-match ban.

The match official, Anthony Taylor, had initially shown the red card after spotting Rodri place his hands on the neck of Gibbs-White, after a flare up between the two players had seen them go head to head, after the City man initially pushed away Forest’s No.10.

As they came face to face once more, Rodri grabbed Gibbs-White, albeit briefly, before the England Under-21 international paused and hit the deck. VAR duly checked, and stayed with the on-field decision.

Unhappy, Rodri could be seen remonstrating with Gibbs-White before leaving the field, unquestionably displeased with how his opponent had reacted. Gibbs-White rubbed his throat while he did so.

As Rodri left the field, he was applauded by the Etihad faithful. But Pep Guardiola had a face like thunder, the City boss clearly unhappy.

Michael Brown, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, remarked: “Rodri, we’ve never really seen that reaction from him before, getting into those situations and ultimately once you raise your hands you give the referee and his officials something to think about… although the reaction was incredible from Gibbs-White.

“It was a delayed reaction wasn’t it? That’s the point, he could have easily stayed up and then he thought ‘oh I’ve got to go down’. That’s the point.”

Fara Williams, speaking on Final Score, insisted the referee had little choice, regardless of Gibbs-White’s response.

“You can see Rodri has put his hands on the throat of Gibbs-White,” she commented. “The Forest man does make the most of it, but hands on the throat is violent conduct.”

Speaking post-game, Phil Foden, who scored City’s opener in the 2-0 win, said: “I think the first half was brilliant apart from the last 10, I think they found us out a little. The second half was not what we expected because Rodri got a red card quite early.

“It wasn’t ideal but we showed a different side to us today to dig in and yeah I’m proud of the team.”