Guardiola Dismisses Rooney's "Stupid" Jab Over Man City's Arsenal Celebrations

Pep Guardiola has rounded on Wayne Rooney after the Manchester United legend questioned Man City's jubilant scenes following Sunday's crucial 2-1 triumph against Arsenal.

Goals from Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland, sandwiched around Kai Havertz's leveller, kept City's title ambitions alive in what proved a fiercely contested encounter. The victory leaves Guardiola's side just three points adrift of the Gunners, with a game in hand to play against Burnley on Wednesday that could see them leapfrog into top spot.

Rooney raised eyebrows at the scale of City's celebrations when appearing on Match of the Day, suggesting the intensity seemed disproportionate given Arsenal remained league leaders. "If you are an Arsenal player, you are thinking: 'Hold on, we're still leading.' It was a heavy celebration, I was surprised with that," the former England captain observed.

Guardiola, however, was having none of it. Speaking ahead of the Burnley fixture, the City boss dismissed the criticism outright: "People can say whatever stupid things they want to say. They celebrated because they know the value of the opponent."

The manager went on to explain the context: "They knew if we didn't win it would be 'bye-bye [to the title race]'. They won and still we are there. How can they not celebrate it? As much as you respect the opponent and the fans of the opponent, celebrate however you want."

Guardiola further clarified that such scenes are reserved for matches of genuine consequence. "Of course we are not going to celebrate in the middle of the week if we win 3-0 or 4-0 and the opponent is different. Everybody knew that game, it was a final. Especially for us. Maybe not for them but for us it was a final and of course you have to celebrate it."

For his part, Rooney maintains the title race remains far from settled. He believes further plot twists await before May, though he still fancies Arsenal as slight favourites despite City's game in hand. "I've been in this situation myself, where you need to win all your games for the title. You look at your games and you think well we should win this one, or that one, but it never pans out that way," Rooney reflected.

The former striker's conclusion: whichever side maintains their nerve over the run-in will claim the prize. "From now until the end of the season it is just going to be down to which team keeps their composure the best – that's who will win it."