MANCHESTER -- Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says he was telling Southampton's Nathan Redmond what a good player he was rather than berating him after his side's 2-1 win on Wednesday.
Guardiola was seen having an odd exchange with Southampton winger Redmond after the full-time whistle at the Etihad Stadium, appearing to gesticulate at the player in an aggressive manner.
But rather than attacking Redmond, the City boss says he was simply letting him know what an admirer he was of his talents and that he was wasted having to defend, like he had to do a lot on Wednesday.
"I said what good a player he is," Guardiola told a news conference. "Last season he destroyed us here. I didn't know him last season and didn't realise how good he is. Today he could not attack because he defends all the time."
Guardiola added: "Southampton have some super-talented players, Redmond is so good one-against-one. But they didn't want to play, they were time wasting from the ninth minute. I just wanted them to play.
"Today he could not attack because they defend all the time, but that is what it is. I spoke with Oriol Romeu as well, with [Virgil] van Dijk and with my players as well."
Pep Guardiola on the post-match incident with Nathan Redmond: "I complimented him on being a good player." 🤔 #BTSportScore pic.twitter.com/3EWcCn9LmO
— BT Sport Score (@btsportscore) November 29, 2017
Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino said he was unaware of Guardiola's discussion with Redmond, while denying that his team deployed plenty of time-wasting tactics.
"I can't say anything about that," Pellegrino said. "I didn't see too many actions to delay the game."
A similar incident occurred in March 2016 when Guardiola, then manager of Bayern Munich, appeared to berate Joshua Kimmich, his own player, on the pitch following the end of a goalless draw against Borussia Dortmund.
Kimmich later claimed the discussion had been about his positioning, telling kicker: "I know him. Emotions play a role. It wasn't a problem.
"It was about taking Xabi Alonso's position. I should have positioned myself a bit deeper."
Guardiola also said he could not control his emotions after jumping on the pitch to celebrate Raheem Sterling's 96th-minute winner.
City maintained their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League with the win over the Saints and extended their club-record winning streak to 19 games.
"It was a good night, I think all the supporters create some special moments tonight and in the last second we enjoyed the situation," the City boss said.
"You have to celebrate it. It was a good moment in the last minute, in the locker room, all the staff so happy it makes sense to enjoy our celebration. It makes sense, our job to enjoy these sort of situations.
"I said [to the referee] I apologise because i couldn't control it, I was so happy like all the fans and players. I ran after Raz but I'm not quick enough but we were so happy."
Southampton looked like they would snatch a point after Romeu had equalised Kevin De Bruyne's fortunate opener that was sliced in by defender Van Dijk.
Sterling had the ball into the net moments before his winner but the goal was ruled out for a foul on goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
But he curled in a brilliant strike from the edge of the box seconds later for his third late winner in City's last three games.
"[Raheem] is a winning player, winning games," Guardiola added. "Before it was not like this now he's full of confidence,
"I spoke to him last season many times, you have to discover the pleasure for yourself to win games -- to score those goals.
"The guys who score are full of joy. The goal was amazing because there's no space.
"Today it was difficult, we'll see what happens about the future and we have to adapt because there were 10 players in the box and no space to attack. They don't want to play, they want to defend all the time, time-wasting."
Pellegrino admitted it was a painful defeat after his side played so well and had other chances with Wesley Hoedt hitting the bar and Maya Yoshida wasting another good opportunity.
"It's really frustrating for us but we have to congratulate the opponent," the Argentine said. "It's painful now but we have to accept it.
"We competed well from the beginning till the end, we did 99 percent of the things in the plan we prepared.
"We knew we had to be more patient and make most of set plays. We defended more than normal against a difficult side, one of the best teams in the world at the moment. But I think we can be proud.
"I am proud of my players because we were really competitive. That is one of my goals at this club, to have a group of players with quality, no matter the pitch or the opponent."