Arsenal laid down an early marker within the Premier League title race by beating Manchester Metropolis 1-0 on Sunday, whereas Liverpool had been held by Brighton in a pulsating 2-2 draw. Gabriel Martinelli’s deflected strike on 86 minutes handed the Gunners their first league victory over Metropolis since 2015 to leapfrog the champions into second place within the desk. Metropolis have now misplaced consecutive Premier League video games for the primary time in 5 years. “It seems like a giant win,” stated Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta. “It’s a particular one. “It has been a very long time for the reason that membership beat Manchester Metropolis. We felt right this moment could possibly be the day, however we would have liked a giant efficiency from everybody and we had that.”
The treble winners had been made to pay for a lacklustre efficiency with Erling Haaland nameless up entrance.
Metropolis’s solely shot on course got here inside 5 minutes as Josko Gvardiol’s effort was cleared off the road by Declan Rice.
“I feel for each side there weren’t a variety of probabilities,” stated Metropolis supervisor Pep Guardiola.
“It was tight and, ultimately, one motion determined the sport.”
The guests had been lucky to not be decreased to 10 males earlier than half-time as Matteo Kovacic twice averted a pink card.
The Croatian was proven a yellow card for a lunge on Martin Odegaard that would have been a straight pink after which escaped a second reserving for bringing down Rice.
Martinelli was launched by Arteta at half-time within the seek for a spark however Arsenal had been additionally lifeless in assault till the Brazilian struck on the loss of life.