Pep Guardiola makes telling admission following full-time incident involving Kyle Walker and Erling Haaland at Arsenal

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has made a somewhat telling admission after his side’s 1-0 defeat against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

The reigning Premier League champions succumbed to a late Gabriel Martinelli winner at the Emirates Stadium, after the Brazilian found the back of Ederson’s net in the 86th minute via a deflected effort off the face of Nathan Ake.

A second successive defeat for Manchester City now means that they enter the October international break sitting in third position, two points behind the leaders Tottenham and second-placed Arsenal.

However, the full-time whistle was met with incident in North London as Kyle Walker and Erling Haaland became embroiled in an altercation involving Arsenal’s bench and members of the Gunners’ coaching staff.

While it remains unclear as to what sparked the argument between the two sides, Pep Guardiola was asked for comment during his post-match press conference with the media at the Emirates Stadium.

The Manchester City manager admitted, “I know what happened, but I don’t want to say anything.”

Pep Guardiola and his players now have to wait two weeks before they next return to on-field competitive action, as a large contingent of the City boss’ first-team squad head out on international duty.

Upon their return later this month, Manchester City host Roberto De Zerbi’s ever-impressive Brighton & Hove Albion side at the Etihad Stadium, before Champions League group stage encounters and the Manchester derby against Erik ten Hag’s faltering side.

Defeat against Arsenal on Sunday afternoon also meant that it is the first time that Manchester City have lost back-to-back Premier League games since 2018 – a season in which they also won the English top-flight crown.