Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola admits he only regrets the final 25 minutes of the 5-1 loss to Arsenal.
The Premier League champions were dismantled in North London, falling behind after seconds thanks to Martin Odegaard’s strike.
Erling Haaland levelled in the second half, but a flurry of strikes from the home side put Guardiola’s men to the sword.
Despite the heavy defeat, the Spaniard admits most of the game was a positive for his side.
He said:”I only regret the last 25 minutes, we forgot to do what we should do, what we have done for 65/70 minutes. Of course it’s a difficult game starting in this stadium, against that team in the first minutes it’s happened many times this season.
“But after 10/15 minutes I think we took the game and played really, really, really, really good and we are in it after 1-1 and good momentum we pass to make the transition with Omar [Marmoush] and a deflection and the third goal.
“But after that, we then continued to do what you have to do in terms defensively and [be a] little bit more patient. and when you’re playing that way they can run and of course at 3-1 they are comfortable, its more difficult. I regret the last 15/20 minutes, the rest was a really good game for our side. It’s difficult to understand when you see the result but this is my feeling.
“It was not acceptable” ❌
John Stones apologies to the Man City supporters after losing 5-1 to Arsenal 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/8G0sICui50
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 2, 2025
“It’s happened all season, we are giving away too many things, we are aware this cannot happen, it happened. But we reacted really well and we played with personality and we defended so good and then with the ball we were a threat but unfortunately after the second happened, again many times we had the momentum. For the deflection and in other situations we conceded the goals.
“You have to overcome [it], you cannot lose the control, it’s 90/95 minutes. You cannot finish in the way we played, we could’ve scored three more but the team has to be stable it doesn’t matter what happened.”
John Stones was heavily involved in a lot of the poor mistakes made at the back by City, and the England international has offered his apologies to the fans.
He added: “To get us back after half-time was a great feeling and a good situation to be in. To concede after that from deflection off me or a bit of luck.
“It is difficult when there is an overload at the back, and you have a split second decision to come out and they got the luck on that one.
“I could have stayed more square, I’d have to watch it back. We cannot let those situations get on top of us.
“We stopped doing the things we meant to. Difficult for me to put into words.
“A lot of different things that I have not figured out why we are not picking up results.
“The passion is there, the training and everyone has the right intention.
“We have not got to where we are without difficult times and that is through everyone’s career right now.
“We all have to stick together, that’s a key point that we don’t start to point fingers.”