Pep Guardiola accused Arsenal of playing long balls towards Olivier
Giroud and defending with "eight to 10 players" after Manchester City
crashed out of the FA Cup in the semi-finals.
Things were looking good for City when Sergio Aguero handed them the
lead after the hour mark, but
Nacho Monreal levelled the scoring to send
the game into extra time, where Alexis Sanchez eventually made the
difference.
While Guardiola was frustrated by Arsenal's tactics, he was
nonetheless pleased with his side's performance despite the 2-1 defeat.
"In games like this, a semi-final is like a final, you cannot expect
to control every situation but we were in control most of the time,"
Guardiola stated at a news conference.
"They play long balls to Giroud and they counter-attack and with set-pieces they are a tall team. They beat us because of this.
"We did not create too much but it is not easy when there are eight
to 10 players there. We put in a good performance, we played like you
have to play a final. We did absolutely everything to play. We created
more chances than Arsenal.
We controlled. We did absolutely everything
in the way we want to. We were there all the time. There were 10-20
minutes when they were on top.
"But it's about the result. And Arsenal won. Congratulations.
"But we did well in the cup, all the games away against Premier
League teams. We arrive here and we compete, create more chances than
our opponent, and hit the post. It was a little bit similar to what
happened in the league.
Teams do not need to do a lot of things score
goals [against us]. We have some problems to score but we play like we
want."
City will now turn their attention to the Premier League again as
they look to seal a top-four finish, with Manchester United awaiting on
Thursday.
"We have to stand up and prepare for the games we have still to play," Guardiola added.
"We have three or four days to recover [before the game with United].
"We are sad now but as soon as possible we will stand up."
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