Manchester City defender John Stones has claimed that their 4 – 1 defeat of Arsenal in the Premier League was not an easy feat for his team.
In a not so surprising outcome, Pep Guardiola defeated his former protégé Mikel Arteta in their reverse fixture in the Premier League. The first leg at the Emirates ended 3 – 1 in favour of the defending champions and at the Etihad on Wednesday night, the league leaders dropped another three points.
Arsenal, who were formerly 11 points clear at the top, have now seen their lead reduced to two points with City still having two games in hand. This has put them in a precarious situation where they could lose the league title that everyone believed they had wrapped up at this time last month.
The Gunners stood no chance at the Etihad but Man City defender John Stones claims that the scoreline does not reflect what really happened on the pitch between both teams. He claims that his side struggled and gave credit to Arsenal for putting up a fight that caused his team to adapt and overcome in the game.
“I wouldn’t say it was total control. We have to give them a lot of respect and credit,” Stones, who won 100 percent of the tackles he went in for, said after the game.
“We didn’t play our football as we normally do, we had man to man pressure and it was very difficult to play our usual passes. We tried to counter that by going more direct to {statorium_player pid=4812 sid=165 text=”Erling [Haaland]”}. “I’m delighted with the desire and how clinical we were tonight, we could have had more too.
“Bit disappointed by conceding the goal but I’m made up with the three points.”
Stones also believes that the team’s experience from winning four of the last five Premier League titles could play a key role in helping them defend their current crown. “We’ve been through tough moments and situations at this stage in the season in the past and it’s done us so well,” he declared.
“We know how to cope with situations and what to do in certain scenarios. It’s just about experience of being in those situations. Everyone’s been there and everyone has that hunger.
“We train and we know our jobs and what is asked for us on the pitch, it’s about us going out there and doing it. Those situations really do help in the big pressure moments.”
