Under-pressure Arteta admits anger at Xhaka for getting sent off in City defeat

Mikel Arteta admitted he was angry at Granit Xhaka for his reckless red card against Manchester City but claimed refereeing decisions have been inconsistent.

With his side already trailing 2-0, Xhaka was sent off for an off-the-ground two footed tackle on Joao Cancelo in the 35th minute. This left Arteta's men with an uphill task and they went on to concede another before half-time and two more in the second half.

Arteta expressed his disappointment with the midfielder but insisted other tackles of a similar nature have not been punished in previous games.

'I am (angry) because of the consequences that it had to the team,' Arteta told BT Sport.

'I must say that the line we are being judged with is really, really thin because we have seen actions like that in the first two Premier League games and nothing happened and I am disappointed.

'I am very disappointed with the second goal because of the way that they allowed that goal.'

Arteta believed Calum Chambers was fouled in the build-up to City's second goal but VAR did not see any wrong-doing.

The Gunners' boss also defended his tactics and system, despite his team being unable to get a positive result

'Every time you lose it should have been the other system or another player, we understand that and accept it.

'When you lose games it’s possible. We had 3,000 fans today and the way they reacted to the team and the support they gave was unconditional. I am really proud of that.

'I am sorry we could not give them what they wanted and we will try to fix that. It’s been really tough the last three weeks with everything that happened.'

Pep Guardiola also launched a passionate defence of Arteta, who has come under pressure for Arsenal's dreadful start to the season.

'I work two or three years together, I learned many things from him,' he told BT Sport after the game.

'He is above and beyond a good manager. The correct personality, leading, he is incredibly loved by all of us. We were sad when he left.

'Sometimes people expect and want results immediately. The team he played today is not the team he dreamed because they have six, seven, eight injuries - really important players.

'Ben White, Thomas Partey, he cannot use the players that he needs to.All the managers need the squad. All our players except Kevin and Phil, the other ones are completely fit.

'I am a big fan of him and I’m pretty sure, if they trust him, he will do a good job at Arsenal.'