It wasn’t the best recreation — or the prettiest aim — that the Emirates Stadium has seen, however the roar of celebration was among the many loudest it has ever heard.
Perhaps the pendulum has lastly swung Arsenal’s means within the combat for Premier League supremacy.
Gabriel Martinelli’s late aim handed Arsenal a 1-0 win over defending champion Manchester City on Sunday, ending a 12-game dropping streak within the league in opposition to Pep Guardiola’s crew within the course of.
Despite 30 video games nonetheless to play, and solely two factors separating the 2 groups, it was a outcome that may gasoline the assumption at Arsenal that Mikel Arteta’s crew can lastly finish a 20-year title drought after developing simply brief final season.
“It gives (us) more confidence,” Martinelli said. “We know our potential and how tough it is to play against them. Today we beat them and it gives us more confidence to kick on.”
Second-place Arsenal has the identical variety of factors as chief Tottenham.
City pipped Arsenal to the title by 5 factors final time period, partially by beating the Gunners 3-1 away and 4-1 at residence. In truth, Arsenal had not taken a degree in opposition to City within the league since 2017, its longest dropping streak in opposition to a single opponent in membership historical past.
While Arsenal did beat City on penalties within the preseason Community Shield at Wembley, this outcome was maybe the most important assertion win of Arteta’s reign and the ultimate whistle was greeted by an enormous roar because the Emirates crowd stood up as one to rejoice.
There hadn’t been a lot to cheer about for the primary 85 minutes, although, except for the truth that City by no means regarded like its regular self — maybe due to the absence of suspended midfielder Rodri.
For as soon as, City’s high-powered assault was stored quiet all through the sport — together with striker Erling Haaland, who completed with no single shot however acquired right into a heated argument with a member of Arsenal’s backroom employees after the ultimate whistle. City as a crew solely had 4 photographs within the recreation, its lowest whole ever below Guardiola in a Premier League recreation.
City has now misplaced consecutive league matches for the primary time since 2018 after a 2-1 defeat at Wolves final weekend.
“It was a tight game. Not many chances, one deflection,” Guardiola stated. “It is football, we lost the game. We will come back stronger.”
Arsenal didn’t create much either without injured winger Bukayo Saka, whose club record streak of starting 87 straight league games came to an end.
But Arteta’s second-half substitutions paid off as Thomas Partey, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kai Havertz and Martinelli — who had all come off the bench — combined for the goal. Partey sent a ball over the top for Tomiyasu, who had strayed into the City area and headed the ball down for Havertz. The German smartly laid it back for Martinelli, whose shot from just outside the area deflected off Nathan Ake’s forehead and into the net.
Cue the wild celebrations, which lasted long after the final whistle had blown. And the belief that Arsenal can finally topple City’s hold on the title will last even longer.
“It is a special one,” Arteta said. “It has been a long time since the club beat Manchester City. We felt today could be the day but we needed a big performance from everyone and we had that.”
LIVERPOOL DROPS POINTS AGAIN
Liverpool could not blame the match officers for the crew’s newest setback. This time it was defensive errors that have been on the coronary heart of a 2-2 draw at Brighton.
A combination-up between Virgil van Dijk and Alexis Mac Allister gifted Brighton an early lead, and Lewis Dunk scored a 78th-minute equalizer for the hosts after Mohamed Salah had scored twice late within the first half.
Van Dijk performed a careless ball to Mac Allister close to his personal space that was intercepted by Simon Adingra within the twentieth minute and the winger rolled the ball previous the stranded Alisson Becker within the Liverpool aim from 25 yards out.
“It is a risky ball and we try to play out from the back,” Van Dijk said. “These things happen and you get punished. The way we bounced back was a great reaction.”
Still, it was extra dropped factors for fourth-place Liverpool, per week after its controversial loss at Tottenham.
Klopp has referred to as for a replay of that recreation after VAR did not award his crew a aim that had been wrongfully disallowed for offside and Liverpool completed the match with 9 males and conceded a stoppage-time winner.
NEWCASTLE HELD AT WEST HAM
Newcastle’s run of spectacular wins got here to a halt with a 2-2 draw at West Ham, regardless of Alexander Isak scoring twice for the guests.
Coming off a 4-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain within the Champions League and a current victory over Man City within the English League Cup, Newcastle regarded headed for an additional three factors till Mohammed Kudus equalized for West Ham within the 89th minute.
Isak had scored two objectives in a five-minute span across the hour mark to place Newcastle forward after Tomas Soucek had put the hosts forward from shut vary within the eighth minute.
Newcastle was denied a fifth straight win in all competitions, together with an 8-0 victory over Sheffield United within the league.
Aston Villa missed the possibility to climb into the Premier League’s prime 4 because it was held to a 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton .
Pau Torres equalized for Villa within the fifty fifth minute, simply two minutes after Hwang-Hee Chan had given Wolves the lead.
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