Sergio Aguero will not face any punishment from the FA for his contact with assistant referee Sian Massey-Ellis in Manchester City’s win over Arsenal on Saturday evening.
The Argentine striker put his hand on Massey-Ellis’s shoulder during his side’s 1-0 victory over Gunners at the Etihad.
Aguero’s actions, which many deemed to be patronising and condescending, clearly irked the Massey-Ellis, who immediately shrugged him off.
Premier League rules prohibit players from making any physical contact with officials, with yellow or red cards to be issued to those who fall afoul of the laws.
Aguero, however, will receive no retrospective punishment for his actions as the Football Association and the Professional Games Match Officials Board have deemed his contact not to be aggressive.
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The City forward’s actions were criticised by many, including former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer, who said: “He shouldn’t put his hand on the assistant referee. It just wasn’t a good look.”
Shearer’s sentiment was echoed by his fellow Match of the Day pundit Ian Wright, who said: “It was unnecessarily patronising. It felt really awkward to me.”
Despite the furore caused by Aguero’s actions, City manager Pep Guardiola refused to be drawn on the matter.
“Come on, guys. Sergio is the nicest person I ever met in my life,” the Spaniard said when Aguero’s actions were put to him. “Look for problems in other situations, not in this one.”
City picked up their first home league win of the season thanks to a first-half strike from England international Raheem Sterling.
“It was difficult but we have won 1-0 and Ederson again was incredibly active like he was against Leeds,” Guardiola said of his team’s first league triumph at the Etihad this campaign.
“We are still a little bit away from our best performance that we are wishing but for many reasons it is not possible.
“The victory helped us a lot, we defended really well deep and upfront and it’s a good three points against an impressive opponent.”
Manchester City will be back in action on Wednesday night, welcoming Portuguese champions Porto to the Etihad for their opening Champions League group match.