Arsenal 'dancing' after Martinelli settles slow waltz with champions

WINNER: Arsenal's Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Martinelli celebrates after scoring the winner against Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium. Pic: Adrian Dennis/AFP

Three times Arsenal had beaten Manchester City during Pep Guardiola's seven years in charge. They were all at Wembley in the FA Cup and Community Shield. Gabriel Martinelli's dramatic late winner here made it the fourth and possibly most important as it is worth a priceless three points.

A long eight years since they defeated City in the league. Mikel Arteta's side would have been Premier League champions had they beaten City just once last season. That is how important this match between these two sides has become.

Now they are back joint top of the Premier League table (same goal difference, but unbeaten Tottenham have scored two more) and will remain there for a couple of weeks during the international break.

Beaming manager Arteta said afterwards: “They are dancing in the changing room and super happy. It is a great way to go into the international break.

“In terms of it being a statement win it is a statement to each other that they can keep believing in what they are doing and win these sort of games.

“Now we can reflect on how we did it and be ready for our next match in two weeks away to Chelsea.” 

A first clean sheet at home was the foundation of this victory. Only Wolves (twice) have had fewer shots in a Premier League game this season than Manchester City (four) did.

Superstar striker Erling Haaland and teammates Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker were so riled they had a heated exchange with members of Arteta's staff as the teams left the pitch.

City manager Pep Guardiola was asked if he could explain what happened. He responded with a prolonged shake of his head and smiled through tight lips before he said: “I know what happened but I am not going to tell you. I have no problem with how Arsenal behaved.” 

The Catalan coach was equally calm in losing his second successive Premier League match for the first time in five years.

He said: “It was a very close match and Arsenal defended and pressed very well. It happens. Look, we have just won the treble and are trying to win a fourth title in a row, that no other side has done.

“We now have time to reflect what we need to do to catch up. The season can be like this when you have testing times, but we have come back before. The season is long.” 

Arteta has been billed as a mini Pep after working as his assistant at City before starting his managerial career at Arsenal.

And the pupil taught the master a few lessons as he won this game with his substitutions - including a triple change in response to a three-man switch by Guardiola with 20 minutes to go.

The introduction of Kai Havertz, Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu was pivotal. The Japanese defender was up in attack as Arsenal pushed for their deserved late winner and it was Havertz who laid a perfect pass for Martinelli, who had come on at half-time, to bury his 86th-minute shot with the help of a deflection.

Martinelli had not played since coming off injured in victory at Everton three weeks ago and was not expected to return until after the international break.

Arteta revealed: “He kept telling me he would be back for City and when Leo Trossard felt his hamstring at half-time he was there and already ready to come on. He made a huge effort to be fit for this. We started the second half really well.” 

Responding to criticism of Raya from elements of the media and the Arsenal fans, Arteta added: “It is all my fault! I told him to play like that and to keep playing like that even when it got difficult. I thought he was immense. To keep going and playing like that in circumstances like that showed he has some 'big ones!'

“The crowd go like this, other players start to kick balls everywhere. I said to him make sure you don’t do it. He didn’t do it and at the end he got rewarded, the team started to play the game we wanted much better.

“I was thinking about the clean sheet in the 92nd minute! We haven’t had that many and against the best team in the world we managed to do it. The application and the love for defending today that we needed was there in every player. It was a necessity. You concede against them and after it’s really difficult, they don’t give much away. Really important.” 

It would not be a big Premier League match without some refereeing controversy and this match was no exception. Only Michael Oliver and his officials behind the television monitors can explain how City midfielder Mateo Kovacic escaped a first-half red card.

The VAR decided his lunge into the achilles of Martin Odegaard was not reckless. And the Croatian was even more fortunate when he dived in on Declan Rice's ankle moments later.

The fixture was a rarity, however, in that Bukayo Saka did not feature in an Arsenal Premier League diode for the first time in 88 matches.

Arteta explained: “No, he couldn’t make it. He hasn’t had a single training session so he will be out for England too. He’s not available to play football at the moment.” 

ARSENAL: Raya 4, White 6, Saliba 8, Gabriel 6, Zinchenko 7 (Tomiyasu 75), Odegaard 6, Rice 8, Jorginho 7 (Partey 75), Trossard 6 (Martinelli 45), Nketiah 6 (Havertz 75), Jesus 8. 

Subs: Ramsdale, Smith Rowe, Kiwior, Vieira, Nelson,.

MANCHESTER CITY: Ederson 6, Walker 7, Gvardiol 7, Dias 6, Ake 6, Lewis 6 (Stones 68), Kovacic 4 (Nunes 68), Foden 6, Alvarez 6 (Doku 68), Silva 6, Haaland 6. 

Subs: Ortega, Phillips, Grealish, Gomez, Akanji, Bobb.

Referee: Michael Oliver