“They use it to their advantage” - Manchester City star John Stones appears to accuse Arsenal of playing ‘dirty’ in 2-2 draw
John Stones has questioned Arsenal's 'dirty tactics' after the draw with Manchester City. He believes that the Gunners have been using it for the last few years and it was expected from their opponents today.
Speaking to the media today after the 2-2 draw, Stones stated that Arsenal like to break the game's flow regularly. He admitted that the Manchester City players were wary of it ahead of the match and said:
"I don't know if they've mastered it, they've done it for a few years. We know to expect that. You can call it clever or dirty, whichever way you want to put it. They break up the game and obviously it upsets the rhythm for everyone. They use it to their advantage. I thought we dealt with it really well. It's not easy when those things happen and you're trying to gain momentum and get above them. Those little stoppages stop that and we controlled out emotions really well."
He added:
"They use a side of football that not many teams do. Make it difficult, slow it down. Get the keeper on the floor to get some information on and we had to control our emotions in that time."
Manchester City went back to the top of the table after the late draw against Arsenal. The Cityzens took the lead through Erling Haaland before Riccardo Calafiori and Gabriel Magalhães scored to make it 2-1 to the Gunners.
However, just before half time, Leandro Trossard got sent off, and Mikel Arteta deployed a 6-3-0 tactic to keep the lead intact. The system worked until the final minute of added time before John Stones equalized in the 98th minute.
Pep Guardiola on Manchester City's draw to Arsenal
Pep Guardiola has backed Arsenal to challenge his side for the Premier League title once again. He believes that The Gunners have shown that they can take on any side and told the media:
"We had the passion to fight like in the last two years against the team who want to steal our Premier League. Riccardo Calafiori made an exceptional goal. We have to defend the second goal but give credit to them. Gabriel is so strong. They block players in the first post so because it happens every game you have to give credit for them. After the red give credit to Arsenal because they were really, really good. We were smart to make the game slowly and not concede fouls. That was good because the game continued and continued.”
Arsenal moved into the top 4, a point ahead of Chelsea, with the draw today at the Etihad. Meanwhile, Manchester City moved to the top by a point.