Pablo Zabaleta: I didn’t moan at the referee out of respect for referee

A point might not have made much of a difference to City’s crumbling attempt to cling on to their title

Pablo Zabaleta was denied a penalty after being brought down by Ben Mee (AP)

Pablo Zabaleta did not complain when denied a stonewall penalty at Burnley because he did not want to recreate the scenes that marred Chelsea’s Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Argentine full-back said English audiences did not like seeing referees surrounded as Bjorn Kuipers was by Chelsea players looking to get Zlatan Ibrahimovic dismissed at Stamford Bridge.

Before Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Turf Moor, the Manchester City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, had said his players would never intimidate an official and Zabaleta’s conduct appeared to bear this out.

“I did not say anything to the referee,” said Zabaleta, after he was brought down by Ben Mee, a graduate of the Manchester City academy. “People have talked about the way Chelsea players complained over Ibrahimovic. It is something that in England people just don’t like.

“At Barcelona last season I was sent off when I went over to the referee when he did not award Edin Dzeko a penalty so I try to have respect for referees now.”

The referee of Saturday’s match, Andre Marriner, awarded Burnley a free-kick for the incident and Zabaleta pointed out that, logically, Marriner should have booked him for diving.

A point might not have made much of a difference to City’s crumbling attempt to cling on to their title. However, in the two seasons in which they won the Premier League, a home draw late in the season to Sunderland that seemed disastrous at the time proved very precious.

“It was a big chance for us to get at least one point,” said Zabaleta. “If we had scored, then we might have had a chance to win. A point is a point and when everything is really tight at the end of the season any point can make a difference. Now it is going to be hard.”