Pep Guardiola spoke out in support of former assistant Mikel Arteta after Manchester City ran away from Arsenal in a League Cup quarterfinal on Tuesday.
A 1-1 halftime scoreline turned into 4-1 as Phil Foden drove City within one win of a fourth-straight final. City has won five of the last seven League Cups.
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Arsenal won the FA Cup under Arteta last season but the ex-City assistant has been under fire as the Gunners sit 15th on the Premier League table.“What I can say in our position as a manager we’ll be judged by the results,” Guardiola said after the win. “I was with him a long period, the most successful period our club had. Sometimes in our job we need time. It’s time to be patient. He’s an outstanding manager, incredible work ethic and puts the club in front of any decisions he has to make.”
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The four-goal performance was solid but Guardiola stressed that his team needed to be finish better in the first half, and that the four goals were far from perfect as Arsenal keeper Alex Runarsson bungled the second and Phil Foden’s onside status on the third is questionable.
“We changed the set-up, they score a good goal, after the second half we had more fluidity,” Guardiola said. “The second goal was helped, the third maybe offside, so that makes a difference. After 3-1 it is a completely different game.”
👀🔴 Arsenal boas Mikel Arteta asked about their festive fixtures v Chelsea, Brighton and West Brom: “We have to turn it around. If we don’t then we are in big trouble. That is the moment that is going to decide our season.” #AFC
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) December 22, 2020
