Pep Guardiola admitted that his Manchester City side “suffered a lot” en route to victory over Arsenal on Sunday.
Man City made a really bright start to the game as they went ahead after just two minutes. After spurning his first chance, Raheem Sterling made no mistake with his second.
Riyad Mahrez sent in a delightful cross towards the forward. Sterling rose highest in the area to head it into the net past Bernd Leno.
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After making a positive start, Man City settled into a rhythm and they did not put Arsenal on the back foot as much as they did to begin with.
This allowed Mikel Arteta’s side back into the game the more the first half wore on, but they did not create any substantial chances. They only recorded one shot on target across the 90 minutes.
Guardiola’s side always looked in control as they ran out 1-0 winners at the Emirates. This is Man City’s eighteenth consecutive win in all competitions. With Leicester City winning earlier in the day, their ten-point lead at the top is still intact.
Speaking post-match with Sky Sports, as cited by BBC Sport, Guardiola praised Mikel Arteta as he suggested that he “knows everything” about football:
“It was hard like we expected it would be. We suffered a lot. It’s difficult to play against Arsenal and Mikel [Arteta], that’s why I give the players incredible credit for this victory.
“Mikel knows everything. He’s so good. It’s not because he’s my friend. He’s so clever. I learn a lot watching his teams. Today I learned something that I can use in the future. He knows everything about football.
“People look at our run of wins and think it’s so easy. I didn’t expect it. I’m more than grateful for these players for what they’re doing, but winning these games 1-0 is what we need to do.
“The last 10-15 minutes was brilliant. We didn’t push the action, the action came through the passes and movements in the right tempo.
“At half-time we adjusted our pressing and won a lot of balls. In the first half we could not. The second half was better. We didn’t create chances but enough to win the game.”
Guardiola on Fernandinho: “He commanded absolutely everything in the middle. We need everyone. Now having a game every three days with travel, I’m going to have to rotate the team. It’s impossible to sustain this rhythm.
“We now have four games in a row in the Premier League. We know what we want to do and we want to make a big step.”
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