Manchester Metropolis supervisor Pep Guardiola has admitted he set his group as much as play a counter-attacking fashion as a result of Arsenal had been the higher facet.
The previous Premier League champions had been held to a 1-1 draw by the Gunners on Sunday.
Guardiola additionally cited fatigue and accidents as elements that affected their efficiency.
Erling Haaland opened the scoring earlier than Gabriel Martinelli got here off the bench to attain the equaliser.
Metropolis invited loads of Arsenal stress and registered simply 32.8 per cent possession as they adopted an unusually defensive strategy.
“The sport towards Napoli was so emotional. We had lots of fatigue with many gamers. We even have lots of accidents,” Guardiola mentioned.
He added, “We don’t attempt to be like this [with the defensive approach], however when the opponent is best, we defend deeper and counter-attack, however that’s not our intention.
“I would favor to not do it, however it’s a must to at this degree. I take a degree, and in some video games we now have to regulate. It’s tough to analyse with all that’s occurred this week.”
