Pep tetchy as 10-man City edge out Clarets

PEP Guardiola delivered a series of abrupt interviews after 10-man Manchester City ground out a fractious 2-1 win over Burnley.

The City manager was not happy about some crucial decisions even though his team creditably overcame another Fernandinho red card to win a hard-fought contest with goals from Gael Clichy and Sergio Aguero.

Adding to the sense of unease at the Etihad Stadium was an excerpt from a lengthy pre-recorded - but newly-released - interview with NBC in which the 45-year-old said he was moving closer to the end of his coaching career.

Guardiola did not suggest retirement was imminent, but he did imply he may not serve for much longer than his current contract.

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This was not necessarily revelatory - he even said last month he had no desire to emulate the longevity of Arsenal's Arsene Wenger - but the timing, as his post-match emotions ran high, was not ideal.

Guardiola said: "I will not be a trainer when 60 or 65 years old. Manchester City is three years or maybe longer, but I am still approaching the end of my career as a manager, I am pretty sure of that."

Asked about this in his press conference, he elaborated little.

"It might be one of my last teams," he said.

It was clear by this stage, however, Guardiola was in little mood to discuss matters at length with the media.

Speaking to the BBC earlier, Guardiola gave only short answers when asked about various incidents in the game.

The Fernandinho dismissal - the Brazilian's third in six appearances, this time for a two-footed lunge on Johann Berg Gudmundsson - was a particularly sensitive subject.

"You're the journalist not me," he said when asked.

When speaking to written press, he tried to change the subject to claim goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had been fouled as Ben Mee pulled a goal back for the visitors.

"I didn't see it, but I saw the fault (foul) for Claudio Bravo, that was definite," he said.

"Now we are going to accept the three or four games (ban for Fernandinho) but remember it was a fault (for Bravo)."