Guardiola: 'I still see Arsenal at the top of the table'

"Arsenal played one game less, so I still consider them to be top of the Premier League," said Guardiola after the round 12 match. "There are still many games ahead, with matches in both the Champions League and Europa. League, comes with a lot of difficulties."

At the Emirates Stadium, the situation was even until Kevin de Bruyne took advantage of Takehiro Tomiyasu's light cross to open the scoring in the 24th minute. Bukayo Saka's penalty kick equaled 1-1 for Arsenal at the end of the first half, but the goals of Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland in the second half helped Man City win 3-1.

From a gap of eight points, Man City caught up with Arsenal and returned to the top of the table thanks to more than goal difference. The army under Mikel Arteta played less than one game, but still marched to Etihad on April 26.

According to Guardiola, the game situation could have been different if Man City had been Arsenal's guest a few weeks ago, when the gap between the two teams was eight points. "The important thing is that Man City could have been a guest here a few weeks ago, eight or nine points behind, and a defeat then means the race is almost over," he said. "But Arsenal dropped points and we achieved our goal of winning to take the top spot."

Guardiola also admitted to a tactical mistake when placing Bernardo Silva at left-back. "I decided to do something new and it was horrible," said the 52-year-old coach. "Silva is an important player because he's very smart. Silva starts at left-back and finishes at right-back."

According to Guardiola, Man City played much better in the second half when controlling the ball, deploying, attacking and contesting more fiercely. He also praised Haaland for taking advantage of the strengths of pressure and disputes to help the home team keep the ball.

Meanwhile, Grealish - who has two goals and three assists in nine matches after the 2022 World Cup - shared: "If you want to win the championship, you must have such victories. You are a guest on a difficult field, no The team was in top form but still came away with three points. The whole team is very excited with this result."

On February 18, Man City was a guest of Nottingham Forest in the 24th round of the Premier League and then marched to Leipzig's field to play the 1/8 round of the Champions League on February 22.