We had a lot of fatigue - Guardiola
- Published
For 92 minutes of the contest at the Emirates, it was all going to plan for Manchester City - Arsenal were failing to fire and the visitors were on their way to a vital victory.
Despite the arduous scheduling of recent games, Pep Guardiola decided to name the same starting XI for a third consecutive game - only the third time he has done this during his nine years at the club.
Having taken a ninth-minute lead through the imperious Erling Haaland and seeing out the opening 45 minutes pretty comfortably, Guardiola decided to shut up shop in the second half, possibly with tiredness in mind.
City had comfortably dispatched rivals Manchester United last Sunday, but were made to work hard for victory against 10-man Napoli in their Champions League opener on Thursday. Despite their efforts at Arsenal, they fell agonisingly short of three straight wins in a week.
Guardiola switched to a 5-5-0 formation in the 76th minute following the eyebrow-raising decision to haul off Haaland and send on defensive midfielder Nico Gonzalez - a tactical manoeuvre which could have come right out of the Jose Mourinho playbook.
The attempt to do whatever was needed to try to get the win was highlighted by the fact City ended with only 32.8% possession, the lowest figure recorded by any Guardiola side in his 601st league game as manager.
"We don't try to be like this but when the opponent is better we defend deeper and counter-attack - but that's not our intention," he said.
"I would prefer not to do it, but you have to at this level. I take a point and in some games we have to adjust."
But Guardiola admitted two tough games, with just two days rest in between, had taken a toll on his players.
"We were incredibly tired," he added. "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 semi-finals of the Champions League so it's so difficult.
"We had a lot of fatigue with many players. We also have a lot of injuries."
The head coach told BBC Radio 5 Live he was "disappointed" by the result, but was "proud" of his players for improving on last season's performance when they were thumped 5-1 by Mikel Arteta's men in the corresponding fixture.