Gabriel Martinelli rescued Arsenal as the Brazilian’s last-gasp equaliser salvaged a 1-1 draw against Manchester City on Sunday when Pep Guardiola’s defensive tactics backfired at the Emirates Stadium.

With City clinging to the lead given to them by Erling Haaland early in the first half, Guardiola made a series of unusually cautious substitutions that left his side without a recognised striker on the pitch in the closing stages.

It was the kind of rearguard action that is rarely associated with the attack-minded Guardiola, but his willingness to sacrifice his purist principles for a more pragmatic approach came back to haunt him.

It was a change made by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta that proved decisive as Martinelli came off the bench to spare his team from a second defeat to a title rival after their loss at champions Liverpool in August.

Arsenal moved up to second place, five points behind Liverpool, while City are languishing in ninth with just two wins from their first five league matches.

Already eight points adrift of Liverpool, it will take a significant improvement from Guardiola’s men to catch Arne Slot’s pace-setters, who have won their first five league matches.

Liverpool were the real winners from the slugfest in north London, which left Guardiola without a league win in five successive matches against an opponent for the first time in his reign.

Despite grumbling about City having to play their Champions League opener against Napoli 48 hours after Arsenal were in action at Athletic Bilbao, Guardiola named an unchanged side.

Guardiola had said City might as well go “hiking” in the 66 hours between the Napoli and Arsenal games, such was the lack of consideration for his players’ fitness.

But if Guardiola felt City had a mountain to climb, the trek looked more manageable after just nine minutes.

VANGUARD