Martinelli topples Manchester City and leads Arsenal to the top

Arteta outperforms Pep Guardiola

Gabriel Martinelli’s goal secured Arsenal’s victory over Manchester City and put Mikel Arteta’s side at the top of the Premier League, alongside Tottenham (who are effectively in first place).

With Ruben Dias and Bernardo Silva starting, Pep Guardiola’s side started the better, and had a double chance in the fifth minute, as Declan Rice denied Gvardiol, almost on the line, and then Nathan Ake fired over the bar.

Shortly after, Raya panicked the Arsenal fans by kicking the ball towards Julian Alvarez, but the ball entered the side netting (17).

The first half also witnessed two violent interventions from Kovacic, Odegaard and Declan Rice, but the referee removed the red card from the Croatian, and Mateus Nunez replaced it in the second half.

Arteta was happier with the substitutions, however, as the only goal of the match was scored by three players coming off the bench: Partey provided a long pass, and Havertz held the ball up front and played in Martinelli’s shot, which he also blocked. He experienced a happy turn in Aki’s body.

With this result, Arsenal reaches 20 points, equal to Tottenham. Manchester City is in 18th place.

Guardiola’s team suffered two consecutive defeats in the English Premier League and three defeats in the last four matches.