‘NOT ACCEPTABLE!’ John Stones SLAMS Man City performance in Arsenal thrashing | OneFootball

John Stones labelled Manchester City’s final 30 minutes in the heavy defeat at Arsenal as ‘unacceptable’, as the Premier League champions collapsed to a 5-1 defeat at the Emirates.

Erling Haaland had briefly brought City level 10 minutes after the break but four second-half goals, including two for teenage pair Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri sealed a convincing win for the Gunners.

City have now lost seven Premier League matches this season and sit 15 points behind leaders Liverpool, with aspirations of a fifth successive title dead in the water.

Stones apologised to the travelling City fans afterwards and struggled to make sense of the dramatic collapse.

“It’s difficult. All of us don’t take losing well,” Stones admitted post match.

“It’s hard to put into words straight after a game like that. Pride’s hurt. Sorry to the fans that travelled, to come and watch that, how we played in the last 30 minutes, it was not acceptable.

“As a collective, it’s not us. It’s not nice to be involved in that when it’s not your team or yourself within those situations.

“Credit to Arsenal. This is not an easy place to come to and they played really well. I thought 60, 65 minutes we played some great football at times, in the game.

“It was a swinging point, and it swung the wrong way for us. I’m angry, upset, personally and collectively because of how the game finished for many reasons.”

“We want to come back from this, bounce back quick, not erase it; I believe these things make you stronger and make you learn, realise what we’ve done over seasons and what we’re capable of doing.

“Our fans and everyone that follows us has gone through good and bad times, today was one of the bad times – we need to make it right again.

Despite the heavy defeat, Stones refused to concede that City’s era of domination is coming to an end.

“I wouldn’t say it’s come to an end. It’s a lot of different things that I still haven’t figured out; why we’re not picking up results that we’ve done in previous seasons, why it’s not clicked,” he added.

“The passion is there, the heart in training. Everyone has the right intention which is one of the most important things.

“We haven’t got to where we are without difficult times, that’s through everyone’s career, to get us to where we are now and we all need to stick together – that’s a key point – that we don’t start pointing fingers.

“We look at ourselves within that dressing room and come together as a team to try and make this right.”