Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have arrived!

Arsenal recorded a 1-0 victory over Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium last night, handing the visitors a consecutive defeat in the Premier League for the first time in five years. The Gunners also failed to beat the Citizens in their previous 7 attempts in the league, making it a monumental result for Mikel Arteta and his team.

The home team were rampant in their press and managed to nullify the treble winners to a mere 4 shots at goal, the lowest in a Premier League game under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola. Few teams in world football are able to restrict such a well drilled outfit but Arsenal were relentless. The game was a chess match at times with each manager trading tactical jabs in order to gain an inch, and that showed in the possession stats, with not much to separate the two teams.

Rallied by the crowd, Arsenal managed to turn the screw in the second half and created more chances in front of goal, 12 in comparison to City’s 4. Arteta turned to his bench for inspiration and half-time substitute, Gabrielle Martinelli would make the difference as he stepped up to fire home via a deflection off Nathan Ake in the 86^th minute. Thomas Partey, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kai Havertz, also second half substitutes, all linked up for the goal that clinched victory in the dying minutes.

Martinelli had been struggling with a hamstring injury prior to the all important clash but fought his way back to make a contribution for the team and was duly rewarded with the goal and player of the match award, despite playing just 45 minutes.

Another stalwart performance to note was William Saliba’s display at centre back. The Frenchman was faultless at the heart of defence for the Gunners, winning a 100% of his duels and completing 97% of his passes against the champions. He also did not commit a single foul or get dribble past. Keeping Erling Haaland quiet is no simple task but the goal machine could only muster a woeful xG of 0.00, he did not have a sniff of goal at the Emirates.

The result will certainly be a huge boost for the mentality of the Arsenal players, breaking their duck against this Manchester City side in that fashion will certainly put a spring in their step as they look to topple Guardiola’s dominance and bring major silverware back to North London soon. The tide is turning, and Guardiola recognized this himself in his pre-match press conference, “Arsenal was the biggest rival last season. In the past they were not there. They have already arrived, and they will stay there for a long time,” said Pep.