Guardiola laments Arsenal draw as Manchester City miss chance to close gap

Pep Guardiola has admitted his disappointment with Manchester City's 2-2 draw at Arsenal, saying his side missed a golden opportunity to close the gap on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table.

The Spanish boss did, however, hail the individual performance of his compatriot Jesus Navas after the surprise deployment of the former Sevilla winger in the right-back position to stop Alexis Sanchez.

City visit Chelsea on Wednesday night and had a chance to arrive at the game with just a nine-point gap after the Blues suffered a surprising defeat at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Guardiola's side took the lead twice though Leroy Sane and Sergio Aguero but walked away from the game with just one point after allowing Arsenal to come back with goals by Theo Walcott and Shkodran Mustafi.

"Today wasn't the perfect performance but there are still a lot of games left. Chelsea lost yesterday and it was disappointing not to take all three points today," Guardiola admitted in the press conference.

"We played much better in the second half. After we scored the opening goal we forgot to play. The second half we started to complete more passes, creating more chances."

Some questioned Guardiola's decision to deploy Navas as right-back after he struggled earlier against Alexis Sanchez. However, the City boss defended his decision by explaining that Bacary Sagna was injured and Pablo Zabaleta was not ready to start.

"I want to congratulate Jesus Navas who was excellent against one of the best players in the world in Alexis Sanchez," Guardiola said.

"Jesus always deserves the best because he is an excellent guy and I was so happy with him."