Arsenal 1-0 Man City: Arteta hails courage and “big ones” of Gunners
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta praised the courage and “big ones” of his side after they earned their first Premier League win over Manchester City since 2015.
Gabriel Martinelli – who was a surprise inclusion after a hamstring injury last month – netted the winner for the Gunners after his shot in the 86th minute deflected off City defender Nathan Ake and past goalkeeper Ederson to hand Arsenal a 1-0 victory and their first league points against the defending champions since 2017.
The result was also one of heroic defence as Pep Guardiola’s side fell to two consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time since 2018 – it was also the lowest number of efforts in a Premier League game for City since the Spaniard’s arrival in Manchester in 2016.
There were early concerns surrounding goalkeeper David Raya, who twice fumbled with his feet and invited pressure from the visitors, but the Spaniard kept an important clean sheet after his midweek mistake in the Champions League against RC Lens.
City were without Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne at Emirates Stadium through suspension and injury respectively and the away side were lucky to finish the game with 11 men after a pair of Mateo Kovačić fouls saw the Croatia international receive just one yellow card.
Arsenal “big ones”
“I think [David Raya] was excellent and he can misplace one or two passes… but overall the way he controls the ball and how dominant he was and how high he played [was good],” Arteta said after the match. “I love players with big courage and David certainly has big ones.
“[Martinelli is] another one with big ones,” Arteta jokingly added. “Nobody was expecting him to be in the team, the physios weren’t having it but he said he was going to be there. We were in training and he said he was ready to roll.
“This [win] is part of the journey and we learn from every defeat, from every time you don’t get what you want, but the team is so willing. It is a joy to work for them.”
Arsenal sit level on 20 points with Premier League table toppers Tottenham Hotspur but are below their north London rivals having scored two fewer goals as the season pauses for an international break.
“Hopefully [the international players] will come back fit, without injury and after that we will freshen our minds and keep going,” Guardiola said.
“It is not the first time we are in the position of being behind the leaders, maybe it is a little bit better to be there and see what you have to do to catch them but we will try.”
Elsewhere in the Premier League on Sunday there were three draws as Brighton’s match against Liverpool ended 2-2, Newcastle’s trip to West Ham concluded in equal fashion and Aston Villa and Wolves shared the spoils with a 1-1 draw at Molineux.