05 February 2024 , 23:17
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Pep Guardiola intervened to calm down Kyle Walker after the Manchester City defender clashed with Neal Maupay during Monday night's 3-1 win at the Gtech Community Stadium.
The Premier League champions kept their title bid on track and cut the gap to league leaders Liverpool to two points courtesy of a brilliant hat-trick from Phil Foden, who cancelled out Maupay's first-half opener in west London.
City cantered to victory after Foden bagged his first goal of the night on the stroke of half-time, but there was still time for some late drama courtesy of Walker and Maupay.
The England international, 33, could be seen having an animated discussion with referee Jarred Gillett inside the final 10 minutes of the match following an interaction with Maupay. Guardiola then stepped in to speak with Walker while a bemused Maupay was spoken to by Garrett.
Guardiola, who was seen speaking with Maupay after the Frenchman was substituted shortly before the final whistle, refused to shed any light on the incident during his post-match press conference despite being asked about the flare-up.
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“Nothing. next question,” the Spaniard said, while Bees boss Thomas Frank admitted he saw the incident but did not know any details over the clash.
Maupay's row with Walker comes less than a week after he clashed with Tottenham midfielder James Maddison during their meeting at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Pep Guardiola stepped in to calm Walker down (Sky Sports)Maupay celebrated breaking the deadlock against Spurs by mimicking Maddison's trademark dart-throwing celebration, but Maddison and co had the last laugh after they fought back to seal a dramatic 3-2 win.
Speaking to TNT Sports post-match, Maddison added fuel to the fire, saying: "I just said to him, he hasn't scored enough goals of his own in the last few years to have his own celebration, so he had to copy mine. Short story, ended well for us."
Maupay hit back on social media, sharing an Instagram post which read: "Went a bit early with that one. Gutted we couldn't get the win. More goals and less relegations in my career than James Maddison. We go again Monday."
Walker and Maupay will renew acquaintances in a fortnight's time when Manchester City host Brentford in their other game in hand on Liverpool. The champions face Everton on Saturday.