I spoke to Pep Guardiola after the Jan Paul van Hecke clash and his response was terrible – he just looked a bit silly

Disclaimer: I like Jan Paul van Hecke and I like him even more now. The look on the Brighton defender's face as Pep Guardiola confronted him after the full-time whistle last Saturday at the Amex Stadium was one of bewilderment – and it’s hardly surprising.

Guardiola suffered a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time in his managerial career and Van Hecke seemed to take the full brunt of the Spaniard's frustration.

The Netherlands international enjoyed a heavyweight tussle with Norwegian striker Erling Haaland throughout Brighton's 2-1 win but things came to a head in the closing stages as the duo wrestled in the penalty area as City frantically tried to level the scores.

Van Hecke and Haaland, both bruised and tired, dropped to the floor and both received yellow cards for their troubles. The Brighton man stayed down for a while longer holding his head, either through pain, or, just to try and gain a few extra seconds and relieve the late pressure. Game management?

Either way it did the trick as Brighton deservedly held out and momentarily moved up to fourth in the table, while City slipped further behind leaders Liverpool.

Guardiola – amid sarcastic Brighton chants of ‘you're getting sacked in the morning' – was far from happy and made a beeline for Van Hecke after the 10 minutes of injury-time had been played.

“[Van Hecke] was strong with Erling and when Erling then stands up, you have to stand up," was Guardiola's official explanation after the match. "He cannot go to the grass. Stay strong, no? You pull him all the game then after the fight you stay there."

The exchange was all captured by the TV cameras and an exclusive from the Mail Online's lip reading expert Jeremy Freeman revealed what was said: Guardiola – “Are you joking?” Guardiola – “Are you serious?” Guardiola – “You don't do that.”

Van Hecke – “uh?” Guardiola – “You asked for…crying.” Guardiola – “Are you crying?” Van Hecke – “uh?” Guardiola – “Of course not.” Guardiola – “Are you proud of it?” Van Hecke – “Sure.”

Guardiola – “Fair play for that.” Van Hecke – “Why?'” Guardiola – “No come on baby..no.” Guardiola – “No, let's go clap.” Guardiola – “You played a good game. I still like to congratulate you.”

Guardiola – “Congratulations, anyway. Enjoy your night.” Van Heck – “Thank you.”

No wonder Van Hecke looked confused. He'd just been 12 rounds with Haaland and then had this bizarre exchange with Guardiola!

The City manager, when asked by Sussex World in the post match press conference, did praise Van Hecke's display but I doubt very much he'd appreciate it if Fabian Hurzeler – or any other Premier League manager – spoke to one of his City players in that manner.

Hurzeler was too busy enjoying one of the biggest wins of his young career to care too much and Van Hecke had already brushed off the incident by the time he came round to speak with reporters in the mixed zone. "We were just speaking about the foul at the end in the box," was Van Hecke's low key response.

It was all a bit daft from the experienced Guardiola. He and Haaland must have expected a physical battle with Van Hecke and the Brighton defender did not disappoint.

Van Hecke played the striker just about as well as anyone could and even for Haaland’s opening goal, Van Hecke was just a whisker away from an acrobatic clearance off the line after Bart Verbruggen half-stopped the Norwegian’s initial attempt.

Van Hecke and Igor Julio were both excellent for Brighton and Guardiola probably should have known better than to publicly go for one of Brighton's best players. It just made him look a bit silly... which just made Van Hecke even more popular with Brighton fans.