John Stones praised his Manchester City teammates for rising above Arsenal’s attempts to see the game out in Sunday’s dramatic Premier League draw. The visitors were furious with that decision, but left City frustrated as David Raya and his defenders eked out every second that they could get away with as referee Michael Oliver was reluctant to clamp down on time-wasting. Oliver did add seven minutes on at the end, and with further stoppages in that time, the clock was still running when Stones stabbed home an equaliser in the 98th minute.
John Stones said. “They’ve done it for a few years and we know to expect that. You can call it clever, or dirty – whichever way you want to put it. They break up the game, and obviously it upsets the rhythm for everyone. They use it for their advantage and I thought we dealt with it really well. It’s not easy when those things are happening and you’re trying to gain momentum, you’re trying to get a foot in the game and get above them. Those little stoppages stop that, and I thought we dealt with it really well. It was a difficult afternoon I think for both teams; how they stopped the play, how they used the side of football that not many teams do, make it difficult, slow it down, get the keeper on the floor to get some information on. And we had to control our emotions during those times and I felt that we did, and it was a good battle today; a lot of tackles, some silly decisions, but it’s hard to digest it all straight after the game.”
