Pep Guardiola 'cannot deny' Manchester City struggled against 'aggressive' Arsenal without midfielder Rodri

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said he “cannot deny” that his team missed Rodri in their 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in Sunday's Premier League game at the Emirates Stadium.

The 27-year-old Spanish international was suspended for the clash between Mikel Arteta’s men and the current Premier League champions, and before the match there was plenty of speculation about how Guardiola would deal with his absence.

City have now lost three games in Rodri's absence as they also suffered defeat to Wolves in the Premier League and were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Newcastle.

Rodri was shown a straight red in the 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

Asked about missing the player, he told Sky Sports: "That is a stat, we cannot deny it. We put players to control more passes but they [Arsenal] are aggressive in these areas. We will come back and continue. We will move forward."

Discussing the match, he acknowledged that Arsenal posed a difficult challenge.

He said: "That game, we started really well with two or three chances. They started the second half really well with the rhythm. Then it was tight and they got a deflection goal. They won, congratulations to them.

"We tried. We did it. I think from both sides there was not a lot of chances. I think both teams did good, high pressing. It was tight and in the end, one action, we lost the game.

"Ten minutes was like that [Arsenal on top] and after it was equal. We had also our moments, but in general it was a tight game. Unfortunately, they did it."

The defeat is the second league defeat in a row for City, who go into the international break in third place, and Guardiola hoped that the time away from domestic club action would give his side a chance to recalibrate.

He continued: "Yeah, of course, we can lose in Wolves as well. Now we have two defeats in a row and then we have the internationals. Hopefully, they come back fit and then we go again. Maybe it is a little bit better to be there and see what we have to do to catch them and then [we will] when we come back.

"It has happened. In Wolves it was a difficult game. Congratulations to Arsenal. We know exactly what we have to do and we do it.”

Arsenal are second in the table, level on 20 points with north London rivals Tottenham heading into the international break. The Gunners are back in action with a trip to Chelsea on Saturday, October 21. City, meanwhile, are two points further behind and host Brighton & Hove Albion on the same day.

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