Pep Guardiola admitted he had no choice but to park the bus against Arsenal, and praised Manchester Cityâ€s defensive resilience despite conceding a late equaliser.
A brilliant lob from the substitute Gabriel Martinelli in the third minute of stoppage time cancelled out Erling Haalandâ€s early strike as Mikel Arteta became the first manager to go five consecutive league games unbeaten against his compatriot. City recorded just 32.8% possession at the Emirates – the lowest in a top-flight match for a team managed by Guardiola – in an uncharacteristically backs-to-the-wall display.
It was not quite enough to secure a first victory against Arsenal since April 2023 but the City manager acknowledged his players showed a different side to their game.
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“Our resilience was fantastic, otherwise we couldnâ€t survive,†Guardiola said. “Last season we lost 5-1; today we were close. Itâ€s by far one of the best teams in Europe. I would prefer to play another way, but when we play a lot of games in 10 years [as City manager], the teams defend deep, deep, deep and take a result of fantastic performance, mindset, strategy … Sometimes it happens. You have to defend, honestly. Itâ€s because the opponent is better. When you have to accept it, you have to survive in that way. And we did it.â€
Asked about the possession statistics, he said: “One time in 10 years is not bad, right? I have to prove myself against another strategy. Now I am a transition team.â€
Having finished as runners-up for the past three seasons, Arsenal are five points behind Liverpool, the league leaders, after five games. Arteta refused to accept criticism over his decision to select Mikel Merino ahead of Eberechi Eze after the England forward came off the bench at half-time and set up the equaliser. But he recognised that service must improve to Viktor Gyökeres, after the new £55m striker did not register a shot during the match.
“To have very big open chances is extremely difficult, but heâ€s certainly trying his best and trying to do that, and we have to provide more for him,†Arteta said. “There were a lot of situations when the chances were there and then especially the final pass was missing today.â€
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