Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted he set his team up to play a counter-attacking style because Arsenal were the better side.
The former Premier League champions were held to a 1-1 draw by the Gunners on Sunday.
Guardiola also cited fatigue and injuries as factors that affected their performance.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring before Gabriel Martinelli came off the bench to score the equaliser.
City invited plenty of Arsenal pressure and registered just 32.8 per cent possession as they adopted an unusually defensive approach.
“The game against Napoli was so emotional. We had a lot of fatigue with many players. We also have a lot of injuries,” Guardiola said.
He added, “We don’t try to be like this [with the defensive approach], but when the opponent is better, we defend deeper and counter-attack, but that’s not our intention.
“I would prefer not to do it, but you have to at this level. I take a point, and in some games we have to adjust. It’s difficult to analyse with all that’s happened this week.”
EPL: Arsenal the better team – Guardiola explains why Man City were defensive
