Decisive Arsenal Win Over City Takes It To Joint Top Of Premier League

Arsenal
Arsenal

Arsenal can take a huge heart from their one-goal win over Manchester City. It is especially commendable a sit comes after a winless run in the last 15 meetings in the league dating back over 8 years to January 2015. And that makes it especially significant as City are the winners of the last three editions.

The win proves that the present team is capable of beating Manchester City. It is also a significant step towards winning the league that they lost so narrowly in the last season. The late Gabriel Martinelli winner places the Gunners narrowly behind arch-rival Tottenham Hotspurs. They have equal points, but Spurs are ahead only on the number of goals scored.

The win comes just before a long international break as Arsenal have qualified for the Champions League. The game was not a classic in itself. Mostly a cagey and tight affair, the tense game saw little goalmouth action. Mike Arteta’s team managed to restrict Guardiola’s boys to just a handful of half chances. Ultimately their disciplined performance was rewarded through the Martinelli deflection in the 87th minute.

4 Arsenal Substitutes Involved In Only Goal

Arteta expressed pride at the performance of his team. He said it was a big win and the team was aggressive and always there. All four of Arsenal’s 2nd half-substitutes were involved in the only goal. A long ball from Thomas Partey found Takehiro Tomiyasu, who flicked forward to Kai Havertz. He laid the ball on a platter for Martinelli to tap it home.

William Saliba was brilliant in defense and won most of his duels while registering a 97% passing accuracy. He ended the game without a single foul and wasn’t beaten one-to-one past even once. With this win, Arsenal have finally beat all other Premier League clubs under Arteta’s tenure. Haaland was a complete flop, failing to register even a single try on goal. He came away with just 11 passes and 23 touches.