Manchester City‘s central defender John Stones has reflected on the team’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal in September.
The team nearly secured a win in London by playing a very defensive game. The home side equalized in the 93rd minute with a goal from Gabriel Martinelli.
“We didn’t plan to play like that. Different things happen during a match, you feel the pressure, and sometimes it just plays out that way. That isn’t our style of football; we don’t want to play like that. I believe sitting back near your own goal is not the best way to get a victory. It is hard for me to say exactly why it happened. It was very unusual for us,” Stones was quoted as saying.
In that match, Manchester City had only 33% ball possession, marking the lowest possession rate in a game during Pep Guardiola’s coaching career.