Wenger fury at referee

offside. I am very upset because at 2-1 we were in the game. The third goal was the killer and it is by coincidence that mistakes always go for the home team, as we know.

“It is unfortunate that the game finished the way it finished. I am disappointed. You can accept it if City win in a normal way, they are a good side, but this is unacceptable.

“Last season we lost two offside goals and it has happened again. The referees don’t work hard enough because the standard drops every season.”

Wenger is something of an expert on divers having admitted in the past that fellow Frenchman Robert Pires dived during Arsenal’s famous Invincibles run.

As for City, who again missed a hatful of chances to fully reflect their superiority on the pitch, Wenger added pointedly: “Can anyone stop them? It will be difficult, the way they have started, the quality they have, but you never know. If on top of that they have decisions at home like that, they will be unstoppable.”

City manager Guardiola felt his side deserved to chalk up their 15th consecutive win in all competitions – a top-flight record.

“The players did an amazing performance,” said Guardiola.

“It is always complicated after a Champions League game in midweek. We have 12 points more than Liverpool and Arsenal, and eight more than Tottenham, and that is a lot in November.”