I don't think it was a pass, as Merse said, he would have just side footed it, not hoofed it.
But one could argue he was just trying to clear his lines, and that the gap between whistle and him starting to boot it was small enough that he couldn't have reasonably stopped.
But...whatever. It's clear they were cheating in any way they could to beat us. And they still couldn't.
There's something different about this team, City know they've got a real fight on their hands if they're going to buy another title.