THAT thing where somebody tells you they are not bothered by something, but can’t stop going on about the thing they are obviously bothered about again and again.

Not sure if there is a word for that – there’s probably a Latin or Germanic phrase that would capture it perfectly – but whatever it is, it applies to Manchester City right now.

Nothing screamed that Arsenal had got deep under their skin than the seemingly neverending supply of players ready to give interviews to explain their inability to beat a team which had played with only 10 men for nearly an hour.

It was simply not fair that the Gunners had tried hard to stop City scoring a goal. The devils.

Their players had already got in a mad funk on the pitch by the time they reached the interview mics and it is a crowded field when trying to pick out which of City’s obscenely assembled squad could provide the most bad-sport hilarity for the viewers.

In the end, the prize can only go to Bernardo Silva who was panting on about Arsenal not trying to win the fixture. This, amazingly so, was after we all had watched Arsenal’s depleted numbers, away from home, try to win the match 2-1 right up to the final seconds.

It’s curious to wonder what Bernardo Silva thought Arsenal were actually trying to do by camping inside their own penalty area if it was not to try and win the game.

“Liverpool always faced us head-on, to win matches. From that perspective, our games against Arsenal haven’t been like the matches against Liverpool were, and still are,” he said – again misunderstanding that Arsenal were, sorry to bang on, indeed trying to win the match.

The crunch of City’s analysis seems to be that having been reduced to 10 men by a red card, Arsenal should have been just as carefree as if they still had 11 – and it was bloody unfair that they weren’t.

By the way, the team celebrating a draw… oh yes that would be Bernardo Silva and Manchester City, whose main star Erling Haaland was so rattled he turned into a goofy playground bully who you’d half expect to end it all by walking away with the ball saying it was his.

Such foaming anger and nonsensical arguments only really says one thing, that Arsenal – having been whipped by City’s under investigation side for so long – can now officially be seen as challengers to their bought success.

The Gunners may not finish first, but wow City have just shown how unsettled they can be.