Pep Guardiola admitted his Manchester City team are "still trying to grow" after they conceded a late equaliser in Sunday's 1-1 draw with rivals Arsenal.

Guardiola watched on as Gabriel Martinelli's goal in the third minute of second-half stoppage time gave Arsenal a share of the spoils at the Emirates Stadium. 

The Citizens had taken the lead through Erling Haaland in the ninth minute, the earliest goal that Arsenal had conceded in the Premier League since September 2024, which also, coincidentally, was a Haaland effort.

But the visitors were unable to hold on for all three points, leaving them down in ninth in the early-season standings and already eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool. 

Indeed, Guardiola's side have taken just seven points from their opening five Premier League matches, City's worst return after five league games of a campaign since 2006-07, under Stuart Pearce (four). 

City's squad underwent an overhaul during the transfer window as Guardiola welcomed six new faces into his ranks, with two of those arrivals, in Gianluigi Donnarumma and Tijjani Reijnders, playing the duration of their stalemate with the Gunners. 

"Still trying to grow. Many new players, including an important position with the keeper. Many players are injured," Guardiola told BBC Radio 5 Live. 

"This is a young, young team, the youngest team we have had and it will be for the future. Step by step, we see what happens. It is a long journey, so we take it game by game."

The result followed City's back-to-back victories over Manchester United in the Premier League and Napoli in the Champions League. 

But Guardiola chose to name an unchanged starting XI for the third consecutive match across all competitions for just the third time during his stewardship, having also done so between September and October 2017 as well as August and September 2021. 

"I woke up in the morning yesterday and said, 'These guys are going to play'. I surprise myself sometimes. I'm getting old, my friend," Guardiola quipped. 

And while Guardiola said his team must improve going forward, he believed the togetherness on show within his team was something positive to build on. 

"Since the transfer window finished, the togetherness has been top," Guardiola told Sky Sports.

"It was so demanding today, and Arsenal have everything – we defended the corners so well. We'll take the point; we have to improve, but it is what it is.

"We were incredibly tired. The game against Napoli was so emotional, and after that recovery day, we had four or five hours to travel to London.

"Arsenal fought in the last two Premier League title races and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League, so it's so difficult.

"We had a lot of fatigue with many players. We also have a lot of injuries."