Arsenal End Man City Hoodoo with Late Winner from Gabriel Martinelli
Arsenal have finally ended their Manchester City hoodoo with a huge 1-0 victory over their title rivals at the Emirates on Sunday.
Gabriel Martinelli scored late as the Gunners, who were without Buyako Saka, leapfrogged Pep Guardiola’s side in the table and moved up to second behind leaders Tottenham, ending a run of 12 straight league defeats against City.
The result marks also revenge for Arsenal after they narrowly missed out on last season’s Premier League title to City, who ended up landing a famous treble.
Early Chances for City
City produced two big chances after just five minutes against Arsenal with Declan Rice forced to clear a ball off the line following Josko Gvardiol’s header from Phil Foden’s corner – with Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya caught in no-man’s land – before Haaland flicked the ball on to Nathan Ake, who could not fire home.
Raya then almost handed City the lead with 17 minutes on the clock, with Arsenal caught sleeping as they tried to play out from the back. The Spaniard booted the ball into Julian Alvarez after holding onto possession for too long, only for it to deflect into the side netting, much to the relief of the Gunners ‘keeper.
Arsenal Grow into Game
Arsenal finally produced their first real chance just before the half-hour mark as Eddie Nketiah fired wide and drama followed with VAR checking for a possible red card for Mateo Kovacic for a foul on Martin Odegaard, in which he appeared to have his studs up and catch his opponent’s ankle, but he escaped with a yellow.
Not long later, Kovacic put in a late challenge on Rice as the Emirates crowd screamed for a second yellow, but referee Michael Oliver took no action as the City midfielder stayed on the pitch, despite pundit Gary Neville calling for his dismissal and manager Mikel Arteta reacting furiously towards the fourth official.
Opportunities came and went for both sides before the break and Arsenal grew into the game as it developed into somewhat of an end-to-end battle, but it remained goalless heading into half-time with City having had the better chances.
Martinelli Seals Victory
Arteta decided to bring on Martinelli for Leandro Trossard at the break and he was involved straight away, firing a shot at Ederson after his corner caused City all kinds of problems, with Gabriel Jesus also seeing a rebound blocked and Odegaard firing over from the edge of the box.
Rico Lewis was handed a start by Guardiola after his impressive Champions League performance on Wednesday and the teenager stuck the ball in the back of the net just before the hour mark, but it was correctly ruled out as referee Oliver had already blown his whistle for a foul in the build-up.
More chances came and went for both sides with Alvarez and Jesus seeing shots blocked before Oleksandr Zinchenko and Odegaard blazed over. Arteta and Guardiola then decided to make a flurry of late substitutions to swing their game in their favour, before Martinelli scored with just four minutes remaining.
A long ball found Takehiro Tomiyasu on the left of the area and after feeding Kai Havertz in the box, the German international found Martinelli on the edge, with his shot beating Ederson after it took a big deflection off City defender Ake to secure victory and spark wild scenes at the Emirates.
Conclusion
Arsenal will now look to continue their unbeaten start to their top-flight campaign when they travel to Chelsea on October 21 after the international break, while City host Brighton on the same day. The win marks a huge moment for Mikel Arteta and his side as they look to mount a serious title challenge this season.