Manchester City drew 1-1 against Arsenal in English Premier League 2025-26
Guardiola proud of City's performance, with Erling Haaland scoring first
Arsenal equalised in stoppage time through Gabriel Martinelli
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola was full of pride at the way his team performed against Arsenal, though acknowledged it was not a sustainable approach.
City, who led through Erling Haaland's ninth-minute opener, were pegged back by Gabriel Martinelli in second-half stoppage time at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, as Arsenal salvaged a 1-1 draw.
Guardiola's team had just 33.2% of the ball as they aimed to play on the counter and frustrate Mikel Arteta's team.
That is the lowest figure one of Guardiola's sides has ever had in a top-flight league game. Across his 601 such matches, his top ten lowest possession figures have all come in the Premier League with City.
Guardiola was delighted with his team's performance, though he knows it will not be a tactic that City will utilise in most games this season, starting with Wednesday's EFL Cup tie against Huddersfield Town.
"I'm really proud, satisfied," he said on Tuesday.
"We recovered many things that we missed last season. We had an incredible spirit.
"Of course, we cannot sustain all season to play in the way we played, and we don't want to, but I give incredible power to the opponents.
"Arsenal, for most of their games, are able to do that to other opponents, and I want to learn to celebrate when we draw a game in the way that we did away against Arsenal, who are a big contender and reached the semi-final of the Champions League. I want to celebrate that point.
"Since I started as a manager from the second team at Barcelona until now, I always ask for one thing – I want the players to give everything to the pitch.
"Last season we didn't do it in some moments and this season, especially from the USA and since United, we started to recover many things that defined our team for many years.
"When this happened [conceding an equaliser at Arsenal], I could not care less about the fact that we could do better. Yes, we could make better decisions - we will do it."
Guardiola is set to rotate his squad for the trip to Huddersfield, who have been eliminated from each of their five domestic cup ties against City, most recently losing 5-0 in the 2023-24 FA Cup third round.
Haaland will be rested as he nurses a back issue, with Guardiola saying it is his duty to provide parent-like care for his players.
"First comes the spirit we have shown this week and you have to take care of this like a father and mother takes care of their sons," Guardiola added.
"We can be a stable team and step by step, [and] when injured players come back we will learn what we can do better."
City are unbeaten in each of their last eight meetings with Huddersfield in all competitions (W5 D3), winning each of the last three by an aggregate score of 14-1.
