Pep Guardiola has heaped the praise on three 'incredible' Arsenal players after Manchester City edged the first meeting of the two sides this season.
Arsenal hold a five-point lead in the Premier League and also benefit from having a game in hand over City, with two fixtures between the sides to come that will play a key role in the title race. Friday's cup clash, then, was billed as a game that could have knock-on implications for those two league meetings, as Guardiola and Mikel Arteta could try to take any advantage they could into the league.
While Arsenal made a number of changes, City played a similar side to recent league games, and it was the Blues who came out on top in a tight contest thanks to Nathan Ake's well-taken second half goal.
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Guardiola was pleased with his side's performance, and in particular the way they managed their lead in the final half hour of the contest - with Arsenal failing to muster a shot on goal after Ake's winner.
However, when asked about that aspect of City's play, Guardiola instead emphasised two 'incredible' Arsenal attackers who made life difficult for his team.
“Yeah good, but Martinelli is an incredible weapon,” Guardiola replied to a question of City's game-management.
“[Martin] Odegaard comes on and they play in the pockets, they are a really good team, otherwise they could not be where they are.
“They are aggressive, they know exactly what they have to do. The little details they control really well, but in the end we played a good game.”
Speaking to BBC Sport, Guardiola hailed a third Arsenal player - Bukayo Saka - even though the England international was kept quiet by the impressive Ake.
"What a season he's playing," Guardiola said of Ake.
"He controlled one of the toughest opponents in the Premier League - Saka is having an incredible moment. he's really good in duels in the box, set pieces, defending the far post, extra bonus. An exceptional lovely guy, last season when he wasn't playing, never complains once, always was really good."
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