LONDON, Sept 29 — Arsenal wanted to provoke Manchester City into a war during last weekend’s Premier League clash but the champions are ready for the challenge, City manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday.

A stoppage-time equaliser let hosts City hold 10-man Arsenal 2-2 on Sunday in a match where City midfielder Rodri suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament which ruled him out for the season.

Nerves flared during the clash as City’s leading scorer Erling Haaland threw the ball at Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes and directed heated words at Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta after the final whistle, asking him to "stay humble”.

Brazil’s Gabriel said Arsenal were waiting for City to visit them, with the rivalry between last season’s top two teams heating up.

"Gabriel said it perfectly in the press after the match: this is a war, we (are) here to provoke the opponent, push them,” Guardiola told reporters when asked about Haaland’s actions.

"And at the end, what can you do? You provoke me? OK, I’m there. You want a war? Now we war... The type of challenge that Arsenal challenges, I understand it.”

However, coach Arteta responded that he had a deep admiration for Guardiola and that their new rivalry should not tarnish the years he spent as his assistant at City.

"I love Pep, I’ve admired him since I was 10-years-old. I respect him profoundly, I am so grateful for everything he did for me and continues to do for me and I consider him a friend,” the manager said after Arsenal’s 4-2 win over Leicester City yesterday.

"If someone wants to damage the relationship that’s not in my hands but that feeling is profound, he knows it, the staff knows it because I still maintain with them today, with the board, with the ownership, with everyone.”

Arteta added that the thirst for victory is a natural reaction in sport as his side seek to conquer the Premier League as much as City have done, something he finds inspiring.

"I haven’t seen a human being work as hard as Pep and the coaches and everybody in that football club is consistently winning and the reason they are there is because they continue to maintain that hunger,” the Spaniard added.

"We have it for sure because we haven’t won it but they have it even if they have won it more than anybody else here. We have to learn and it has to be inspiring for us and it is for me.”

Leaders City, who visit Newcastle United yesterday, are two points ahead of Arsenal with 13 points from five matches. — Reuters