By: Sports DeskSeptember 22, 2025 12:19 AM IST 2 min readArsenal's Gabriel Martinelli reacts after scoring during the Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester City in London on Sunday. (AP Photo)From the ninth minute till the 93rd minute against Arsenal, Manchester City were leading 1-0 in their Premier League clash. But after the Arsenal vs Manchester City game ended in a 1-1 draw, thanks to Arsenal stealing an equaliser in the 93rd minute, City manager Pep Guardiola admitted that “Arsenal were a better team” on the day.“I think the result is fair. In general Arsenal were better,” Guardiola said in his post-match press conference after Gabriel Martinelli scored in the third minute of stoppage time. “It was so demanding today and Arsenal have everything – we defended the corners so well. We’ll take the point, we have to improve but it is what it is.”“We played tough games this week – Manchester United and in the Champions League – and today we played against a powerful team. Hats off to our team for the resilience. It’s so difficult when you’re not effective with high pressing, it’s always tough in the build-up,” Guardiola said. “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 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.”After Erling Haaland had scored a ninth-minute goal on the counterattack for City, the club frustrated the Gunners with a defensive masterclass which was uncharacteristic for a Guardiola team.The Associated Press noted that Guardiola employed a five-man defence against the Gunners.“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. 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,” Guardiola said.Those tactics worked like a charm, until they didn’t.Story continues below this adNew Gunners signing Eberechi Eze played a ball over City’s packed defense and club old boy Martinelli latched onto it before lobbing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.(With inputs from AP)© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd