Guardiola defends the decision to adopt a defensive approach in the Arsenal take-off

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola praised his resilience and defended his approach to the 1-1 pull with Arsenal on Sunday.

The Cityzens appeared to have had the game in control after Erling Haaland put visitors ahead in the first half, before Gabriel Martinelli noted at the time of stopping to save a point for the hosts.

Speaking after the game, Guardiola said: “We played hard games this week-Manchester United and the Champions League-and today played against a strong team.

“Hats outside our team for resilience. It is so difficult when you are not effective with high apping, it is always tough in accumulation.

“We made some transitions. I think the result is fair. Overall Arsenal were better.

“As the transfer window ended the union was the best.

“Today he was so busy and Arsenal have everything-we defended the corners so good. We take the point, we must improve but it is what it is.

“We were incredibly tired. The game against Napoli was so emotional and after that recovery day we have four or five hours to travel to London. Arsenal fought in the last two Premier League title races and reached the Champions League semi-finals and so it’s so difficult.

“We had a lot of fatigue with many players. We also have a lot of injuries.”

When asked about the decision to change to five on the back, Guardiola defended his options.

He added: “We do not try to be like this but when the opponent is better off defending deeper and counterattack, but that is not our intention.

“I prefer not to do it but you must at this level. I take a point and in some games we have to adjust.”