"It was horrible" – Pep Guardiola slams his own tactics despite Manchester City's 3-1 victory over Arsenal

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has stated that he had to rip up his sub-par tactics during his team's 3-1 Premier League win at Arsenal on Wednesday (February 15).

City leapfrogged Mikel Arteta's side to the top of the 2022-23 Premier League table with a crucial away win at the Emirates Stadium. After Kevin De Bruyne's opener in the 24th minute, Bukayo Saka netted a spot-kick before the break. However, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland scored in the second half to hand their side a vital three points.

During a post-match press conference, Guardiola was asked about what aspect of his team's away performance frustrated him. He responded:

"My tactics! Because I decided something new and it was horrible. We suffered. There was only one team on the pitch after we scored our first goal and that was Arsenal. We couldn't connect with a pass, we were just playing long balls, no one was moving and no one wanted the ball. We were soft and my plan wasn't good."

Lauding Manchester City's second-half performance, Guardiola added:

"We allowed them to play comfortably but in the second-half we were more aggressive and that's when the quality of our players made the difference. This result is so important because we could have come here a few weeks ago eight or nine points behind them and if we lost it would be almost over."

Sharing his thoughts on the Gunners, Guardiola continued:

"Because they have dropped some points it has given us the chance to get closer. But the reality is that I still consider Arsenal to be top of the league because they have played one game less than us."

Mikel Arteta expresses his frustration after Arsenal's failure to defeat Manchester City

Speaking at a post-match press conference, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta shared his thoughts on his team's recent home loss. He elaborated:

"We are all feeling very down because we had the game in our control until we conceded that second goal. We had the feeling we could beat them but we gave Manchester City three goals and you just cannot make those errors at this level. The difference was in the boxes. They had three chances and put them away. We had big opportunities and we didn't take them. That's the disappointment."

Manchester City are scheduled to take on the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium in their Premier League encounter on Wednesday (April 26).