Kevin De Bruyne has revealed that Pep Guardiola’s tactical alteration at half-time proved pivotal in Manchester City’s 3-1 victory over Arsenal on Wednesday.
The Blues moved top of the table thanks to the win at the Emirates, with goals from De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland wrapping things up ensuring City took a huge three points away from North London.
Pep Guardiola described City’s first half tactics as ‘horrible’, and said he made changes to his system before Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland sealed a vital win.
Explaining just what those changes were, De Bruyne said there were tactical and mental changes that allowed City’s quality to prove the difference in a game of few margins.
“I think we needed [his goal] because I don’t think we played well in the first half. I think we did in the second half and that was an important situation for us,” De Bruyne said.
“My takeaway is that the second half was much better. We responded much better, there was more aggression and more purpose in our play.”
“I think the third goal showed it. When I gave it to Erling I thought it was a difficult situation for him but he finished it. Seems easy for him sometimes. He did the job.
“We were more aggressive [after half-time],” he added. “I think the first half we let them have too much space on the ball and especially defensively we couldn’t get near them. I think the second half we did that and they couldn’t really get through that. I didn’t think they created a lot anymore. It was just, in general, much better from us.”
Asked what Guardiola changed at half-time, De Bruyne responded: “We went more man to man like they did with us. I don’t think it’s an easy game to watch because there are a lot of mistakes being made when both teams defend that way. I think we found some situations where we hurt them.
“They are a really good team. They merit being where they are and we had to come here and show something. We were able to do that in the second half. It doesn’t change anything, we just have to keep grinding out the results and play as well as we can.”
