John Stones paid homage to not just his but City’s ability to adapt against Arsenal and how adaptability will be important for our remaining fixtures as we head into the business end of the 2022/23 Premier League campaign.

City have moved within two points of league leaders Arsenal following our 4-1 win over Mikel Arteta’s side on Wednesday evening.

And the England international explained that Pep Guardiola and the players discussed in training how they could modify their approach to the game based off their knowledge of Arsenal’s set-up.

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“We knew how they were going to play, and we worked on different scenarios in training. We and the manager thought this was the best way to beat them [Stones playing as a central defender] and it definitely worked,” said Stones.

“It shows we can adapt and change in a few days in our roles and responsibilities.

“We were very clinical in how we all defended. It’s a bit disappointing how we conceded at the end, but I was pleased to get the three points and we move on.”

Rob Holding scored Arsenal’s consolation late in the second half, but Erling Haaland restored our three-goal advantage soon after.

Stones had already added his name to the score sheet on the brink of half-time, grabbing our second on the night with a masterfully guided header.

With City’s trip to Fulham coming before Arsenal are next in action, we could move to top of the Premier League table for the first time since November by Sunday evening.

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“It’s another step in the right direction,” said Stones following Wednesday’s win. “We try to go out in every game and show what we’re capable of.

“No matter the challenge and the team in front of us, we believe in ourselves and try to play our football.

“We’ve got a hectic schedule. We take it a game at a time. We can’t get ahead of ourselves. We concentrate on what we can do and what we can affect, and we take it from there.”