Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger may have insisted his team were hard-done by the referee after he awarded a soft penalty and allowed Manchester City’s third goal to stand after two players looked to be offside.

But a relaxed Pep Guardiola was far more sanguine insisting his team could and should have grabbed more than the trio they netted in a 3-1 scoreline.

The visitors were outclassed by a hard-working City despite Wenger insisting referee Michael Oliver’s contentious calls ‘killed’ the game for the visitors.

Wenger was angry at Oliver for awarding a penalty after Nacho Monreal tangled with Raheem Sterling with the score at 1-0 after Kevin De Bruyne scored in the first half as Sergio Aguero slotted home the spot-kick to make it 2-0.

After substitute Alexandre Lacazette – on for the disappointing Francis Coquelin who was a surprise choice for a starting berth – pulled a goal back to make it 2-1 both Jesus and David Silva seeming to be offside for City’s third, scored by the former.

But as City eased their way to a ninth successive league win, equalling a club record for a single season, moving 12 points clear of Arsenal who slipped to sixth, former Barcelona boss Guardiola disagreed with Wenger’s assertion, saying his team could have won by far more if they had taken their chances.

The former Barcelona boss said: “We could have scored five or six we just needed to be more clinical.

“It was a good performance against Arsenal. We created a lot of chances and ‘almost’ chances.

“We won and we deserved it. Big chances against big teams like Arsenal you have to finish. We knew how important this game was.

“We are so happy. We played with courage.

“Our body language was good. Arsenal pressed high in the first half it was difficult to close the game.”