Pep Guardiola was involved in a heated discussion with Crystal Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita after Manchester City dropped points on Monday night.
The champions were held to a draw at Selhurst Park which further opens the door for Liverpool to close the gap.
City dominated the ball but were unable to breach the Eagles with Bernardo Silva fluffing his lines on several occasions.
Guaita was called upon when his team were under the cosh, making big saves from the likes of Riyad Mahrez.
After the full-time whistle Guardiola walked on to the pitch and had words with the Palace keeper.
It looked to be an emotional exchange but the Catalan has now revealed he was praising the shot stopper for his efforts.
“I congratulated him on an incredible effort and for his saves. He played a great game," he said.
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Guardiola opted against making a single change throughout the match, leaving the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling on the bench.
City had 18 efforts on goal, but only four of those were on target as they endured a frustrating night that could have huge ramifications in the title race.
Nevertheless Guardiola was full of praise for his side's performance and backed his decision to stick with his starting XI throughout.
"We play a really good game. In 90 minutes we concede mistakes a little bit, but the way we played was really good," he told BBC Sport.
"Luck doesn't exist in football. We have to score goals and we didn't do it. We played to score goals and concede few. We struggled a little bit.
"The guys who were playing were playing good, that's why I didn't make changes. We didn't score, that was the mistake.
"The team that was there today was there before and will be there in the next game. I am very pleased with the performance and the way we played."
Liverpool can close to within a point if they win at Arsenal on Wednesday night. The two title hopefuls will square off in a matter of weeks when they meet at the Etihad on April 10.
Bernardo said after the Palace stalemate: "It was a tough game, we actually played well, we controlled the game apart from one or two times.
"We couldn't score and we should've scored. Nine games to go, but it's still better to be in our position than in Liverpool's and they have to play in our stadium so it's going to be exciting."
