City went behind to an early goal and while Josko Gvardiol restored parity in the first half it looked like the Blues would have to settle for a point after a frustrating second half before Stones dramatically struck in the fifth minute of injury time.
For all the difficulties in getting the win, Guardiola refuted the idea that his team had been below their best as he praised the work done against 11 men in the penalty area.
"I'm sorry to disagree but I thought we played really really good," he said. "You can't press because [goalkeeper Jose] Sa is long ball, we win the duel which is fine and then there's 11 players on the penalty spot so breaking them down is so difficult.
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