GABRIEL MARTIELLI stole a late winner for Arsenal to kick their title challenge into life.
The Gunners had been off the pace and disjointed – as they have been for most of the season – going forward until the Brazilian marked his return from injury with a huge winner.
Arsenal defeated Manchester City thanks to a late winnerGetty
It was four subs who combined for the goal, Thomas Partey launching a ball forward for Takehiro Tomiyasu to nod down for Kai Havertz.
The German laid the ball off to Martinelli, whose powerful drive deflected off Nathan Ake and past Ederson.
That ended a run of 12 straight Premier League defeats against the champions.
SunSport’s Jack Rosser rates each Arsenal player at the Emirates below:
David Raya – 6
Survived an extremely erratic first half in which his passing was wayward and nervy, but recovered with an impressive and commanding display in the second.
Had little to deal with in the way of shots from City but claimed crosses and corners well and improved on the ball.
Ben White – 7
Faced with Phil Foden trying to drag him all over the show and then the pacey Jeremy Doku looking to race beyond, White stood firm against anything all afternoon.
Limited going forward but keeping this City side out is a mammoth task before you can even think about attacking.
Gabriel Magalhaes – 7
Gabriel made a superb flying interception to stop a cross reaching a City shirt in the first half and hung on in well when there were spells of pressure from the visitors.
A clean sheet which could prove so valuable come the end of the campaign.
William Saliba – 8
The biggest praise you can give Arsenal’s central pairing is that Erling Haaland didn’t score, thanks to barely being allowed a touch by Saliba.
Arsenal’s French centre half followed the Norwegian everywhere and always looked a step ahead.
Saliba was calm on the ball at the back when goalkeeper Raya was struggling in the first half, too.
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Oleksandr Zinchenko – 7
Struggled to get forward for the most part but dealt extremely well with the threat of Kyle Walker and Julian Alvarez down City’s right – before being further tested by both Doku and Foden.
Jorginho – 6
The Italy international was a composed presence in the middle for the Gunners.
Neat and tidy on the ball, but Jorginho struggled to take a firm hold on the midfield battle against a weakened City side.
Declan Rice – 7
The former West Ham man showed exactly why these two sides were fighting over his signature in the summer.
Rice made a vital clearance off the line after just five minutes and chipped in with some crucial challenges when Arsenal were struggling early on.
Has brought control and ambition to Arsenal’s midfield but couldn’t contribute as much as he would have liked going forward.
Martin Odegaard – 6
Took the lead when Arsenal were under the cosh in the first half, pumping up fans to get things going again.
His actions on the ball, however, got few off their seats as the skipper was limited to efforts from range – and poor ones at that.
Leandro Trossard – 5
The Belgian worked hard off the ball to try and keep City at bay but offered next to nothing in possession and was hooked at half-time.
It was hardly a strong case to keep Martinelli or Saka out of the side after the international break.
Gabriel Jesus – 6
A few flashes of inspiration from the Brazilian, but the former City man struggled to make too big an impact against his old side from a position on the wing.
Many Gunners fans will feel he’d be far more valuable through the middle.
Eddie Nketiah – 5
Fought well from the front after a difficult start for the Gunners but had to go looking for the ball at times and was largely ineffective in the final third.
SUBS
Gabriel Martinelli – 8
Injected some life into the Arsenal attack immediately after the break.
Few were expecting to see Martinelli introduced as early as the restart but the Brazilian winger sent one dangerous cross in with his first involvement and followed it quickly with Arsenal’s first shot on target.
He came up with the crucial winner after 88 minutes too, still pushing forward and rewarded for his gamble of a powerful effort on goal.
Kai Havertz – 6
Showed composure to lay the ball off for Martinelli when surrounded by City players on the edge of the box.
Takehiro Tomiyasu – 6
Not known for his attacking talents but picked Havertz out well before the German set up the late winner.
Thomas Partey – 6
A player Arteta and Arsenal will be delighted to have back. Having sat and watched the steady, patient build up come to nothing all afternoon the midfielder decided to go long late on which brought about the winner.
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