Soccer-Guardiola welcomes unlikely record, but Arsenal find way through City's parked bus
SOCCER-ENGLAND-ARS-MCI/ (PIX):Soccer-Guardiola welcomes unlikely record, but Arsenal find way through City's parked bus
By Sam Tobin
LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola's side can scarcely have played more defensively during his tenure than they did in Sunday's 1-1 draw at Arsenal, parking the bus in an ultimately fruitless attempt to defend an early lead.
Gabriel Martinelli's 93rd-minute equaliser snatched a point for the hosts and likely the headlines, but City's highly unusual tactics – finishing in a 5-4-1 with all 10 outfield players sitting deep – were also a major talking point.
City finished the game with 32.8% possession, according to Opta the lowest recorded in a top-flight league match by any of Guardiola's teams in his glittering career, built largely on controlling possession and suffocating opponents.
Guardiola pointed to the short turnaround from Thursday night's Champions League clash with Napoli and fairly compared City's display to Arsenal's rearguard action with 10 men in a 2-2 draw at the Etihad last season.
But he also frankly accepted that Arsenal's quality pushed him towards pragmatism, while he made light of yet another milestone.
"I cannot live in this country with another record, you know," Guardiola told reporters. "I'm so proud of that."
He added: "We don't want it, but sometimes it happens. One time in 10 years is not bad, right?"
Old habits die hard and Guardiola freely admitted he did not enjoy watching City dig deep for what would have been the grittiest of victories.
"I suffer. I don't like it," he told reporters. "I want the ball away, away now."
City remain a team in transition, with the league-winning juggernaut coming to a halt last season, though it was a mark of their strength that they still finished in third place.
Guardiola insisted that his immediate focus is on improving the feeling around the squad without setting lofty targets as City adjust to not being the team to beat.
"I want to see the spirit back in the training sessions and enjoying (playing) ... we lost it last season and you have to recover, and this week we recover and you have to continue," he said.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
