John Stones apologises to Man City fans for 'unacceptable' Arsenal loss | OneFootball

Manchester City centre-back John Stones apologised to his club's travelling fans after they were forced to watch the defending Premier League champions get thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners took an early lead through Martin Odegaard and narrowly squandered the chance to go 2-0 up shortly after. City had their own opportunities in an even first half and were level within ten minutes of the restart thanks to an Erling Haaland header.

However, parity lasted for barely a minute before Thomas Partey's strike deflected off Stones and beyond Stefan Ortega. City crumbled thereafter, unable to prevent Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri from racking up the score.

"It's difficult," a visibly downbeat Stones told Sky Sports post-game. "We don't take losing well, it's hard for me to put into words. Our pride is hurt, we're sorry to the fans who came to watch that last 30 minutes. It was not acceptable.

"As a collective, it's not us - it's not nice to be involved in that."

John Stones couldn't stop five different Arsenal players from scoring on Sunday / Alex Pantling/GettyImages

City have now conceded 35 Premier League goals this season - more than they shipped across the entirety of last term and, damningly, more than their floundering rivals Manchester United have let in.

Stones described City's dressing room as "an emotional place" after Sunday's final whistle. "We stopped doing what we were supposed to do. To concede the goals we did and to allow them to have so much of the ball is frustrating when we're usually so dominant."

Pep Guardiola supported his player's strong comments. "I agree with Stones," the City boss admitted. "We are not used to that. Other results, this team has grown up [with]. We allowed the space we wanted to avoid, the space in between the lines, that's why we have the feeling at home."

Guardiola argued that his side were "really good" for the opening hour but conceded: "The last 20 minutes we were found out."

Stones concluded his interview with a final message to City's supporters: "For our fans who have gone through the good and bad times, we have to make it good again."