In an interview with Sky Sports, Pep Guardiola acknowledged that his team would also waste time if they were down to ten men.
During the match between Manchester City and Arsenal in the fifth round of the Premier League, despite taking a 2-1 lead at halftime, Mikel Arteta’s side found themselves a man down after Leandro Trossard received a red card.
In the second half, the Spanish coach was forced to make tactical adjustments, opting for a more defensive approach and even resorting to time-wasting if necessary. However, for Pep Guardiola, this is completely normal.
On Sky Sports, when asked about Arsenal’s time-wasting tactics, he said, “I would probably do the same in a situation where you’re playing with ten men. You should ask Mikel (Arteta) about that strategy. They played well with long balls to Kai Havertz, who looked very strong and was ready to wait for second balls. In the end, we were patient, created opportunities, and scored. That’s it.”
The hard-fought point allowed Manchester City to maintain their position at the top of the table, but “The Citizens” could not extend their winning streak since the start of the season.