John Stones takes swipe at Arsenal's 'dirty' tactics after emerging as Man City's hero in scintillating title race draw

Stones was the star for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City in the eighth minute of injury time as he brought the Premier League leaders level at 2-2 against Mikel Arteta's Arsenal to stay atop the standings. Arsenal defended for their life in the second half of the game after having gone down to 10 men just before the half-time break after Leandro Trossard was shown his second yellow card of the game.

Arsenal went down early after Erling Haaland scored his 10th Premier League goal of the season. However, goals from Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori gave Arteta's side the lead in the game. However, after Trossard's sending-off, Arteta shifted his side into a very defensive setup with the Gunners wasting as much time as possible.

Speaking to the media about Arsenal's tactics, Stones said: "It was a difficult afternoon for both teams, how they stop the play, how they use the side of football that not many teams do.

"You can call it clever or dirty, whichever way you want to put it, but they break up the game which upsets the rhythm. They use it to their advantage and we dealt with it very well.

"They slow the game down, they get the keeper on the floor so they can get some information onto the pitch. We had to control our emotions during those tough times and I felt like we did. There were a lot of tough tackles, some silly decisions, but we did well.

"I wouldn't say they have mastered it, but they have done it for a few years now, so we knew to expect that."

Guardiola's side will now play host to Championship side Watford on Tuesday, September 24 in the Carabao Cup as they look to get back to winning ways after two straight draws.