Guardiola Lauds Manchester City‘s Resilience After Hard-Fought Draw at Arsenal
London – Pep Guardiola hailed Manchester City’s “fantastic” defensive resilience following a 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Premier League on Friday,September 21,2025. The result saw Arsenal earn a point against the reigning champions despite a dominant performance from City,who were forced to withstand sustained pressure.
The match, a highly anticipated clash between two of Europe’s top teams, ended with Arsenal securing a late equaliser after falling behind. guardiola acknowledged Arsenal’s quality, stating they are “by far one of the best teams in Europe,” and explained that City were forced to adapt their usual style of play. This draw comes after Arsenal suffered a 5-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium last season.
“Our resilience was fantastic, otherwise we couldn’t survive,” Guardiola said. “Last season we lost 5-1; today we were close. It’s by far one of the best teams in Europe. I would prefer to play another way, but when we play a lot of games in 10 years [as City manager], the teams defend deep, deep, deep and take a result of fantastic performance, mindset, strategy … Sometimes it happens. you have to defend, honestly. It’s because the opponent is better. When you have to accept it, you have to survive in that way. And we did it.”
Guardiola jokingly suggested his team had become a “transition team” when questioned about the possession statistics, adding, “One time in 10 years is not bad, right? I have to prove myself against another strategy.”
Simultaneously occurring, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta faced questions regarding his team’s attacking performance and the role of new £55m striker Viktor Gyökeres, who did not register a shot during the match. arteta conceded service to Gyökeres needs advancement. “To have very big open chances is extremely difficult, but he’s certainly trying his best and trying to do that, and we have to provide more for him,” Arteta said. “There were a lot of situations when the chances were there and then especially the final pass was missing today.”
Following five games, Arsenal sit five points behind league leaders Liverpool.
