Ending was 'not the way' for Guardiola

PEP Guardiola blasted his 'unacceptable' Manchester City players for falling apart against Arsenal.

- by SIMON BAJKOWSKI & ALEX JAMES

The Premier League champions recovered from an horrendous start and, after wearing down the Arsenal defence, Erling Haaland headed in an equaliser after 55 minutes. However, within seven minutes they were 3-1 down and a rampant Arsenal turned the game into a rout to make it only the second time Guardiola's City have conceded five.

John Stones slammed the final third of the game as unacceptable and Guardiola agreed with the verdict, suggesting his players had abandoned their game plan to try and find another way back into the contest. As a result, defeat became embarrassment.

"You can lose by two or three or four but the last 30 minutes we have to do it and we don't have a defence," he said.