Henry praises 'great City'

Thierry Henry paid tribute to a “great” Manchester City side after Arsenal had knocked north London rivals Tottenham off the top of the Premiership with a 2-1 win over the Blues at Highbury.

Henry’s cool finish three minutes before half-time proved enough for victory after ex-Gunner Nicolas Anelka had levelled Sylvain Wiltord’s opener.

City had Ali Benarbia dismissed late on for a second yellow card but again did not look out of their depth on the champions’ home turf.

Henry told Sky Sports News: “The most important thing is that we won against a great team – they came to go forward and we couldn’t control them. They are a great team.

“I‘ve played with Ali Benarbia and Nicolas (Anelka) before and they’re great players and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but at the end of the day we’ve got three points.”

Henry, whose goal helped Arsenal equal City’s record in hitting the back of the net for the 44th consecutive top-flight match, claimed he was not concerned about Spurs’ early season form.

He added: “I‘m only looking at my team – that’s the most important thing at the moment and we’ll see where we are at the end.”