GABRIEL MARTINELLI rescued a point for Arsenal with his second supersub strike of the week.
But while Mikel Arteta’s £250million summer spend was enough to turn Pep Guardiola into Jose Mourinho, it will surely not be enough to turn Arsenal’s perennial runners-up into champions.
The Gunners are already five points adrift of Liverpool despite Martinelli’s cute lob which cancelled out Erling Haaland’s early opener – five days after the Brazilian had opened the scoring in the 2-0 Champions League defeat of Athletic Bilbao.
Manchester City employed the dark arts of time-wasting and tactical fouling, as Guardiola ended up playing an ultra-defensive 5-4-1 formation – frustrating the life out of his former apprentice Arteta, who had blundered in his team selection.
For much of the match the difference was this: City have a world-class Scandinavian centre-forward and Arsenal do not.
It was Haaland’s 13th goal in just eight games for club and country this season which propelled City into the lead.
And while Norwegian Haaland was in beast mode, relishing the physical battle against Arsenal’s Gabriel and William Saliba, Gunners’ Swedish new boy Viktor Gyokeres was anonymous.
Haaland is back in the sort of form which sent shock waves through English football during his debut season for City, when Guardiola’s men won the Treble.
And while Gyokeres has netted three times in comfortable home wins over Leeds and Nottingham Forest, the harsh truth is that the £63.5m hitman has done next to nothing in three matches against Liverpool and the Manchester clubs.
Arteta’s teamsheet had sparked groans around the Emirates – Leandro Trossard preferred to either Eberechi Eze or Martinelli on the left and Mikel Merino understudying for the injured Martin Odegaard.
Was it another example of big-match conservatism from the Arsenal boss? Didn’t the Gunners stuff City 5-1 here last season? Wasn’t it all a little too respectful?
Well when Arteta sent on Eze and fit-again Bukayo Saka at half-time, it felt like an admission that he had got it wrong to start with.
After a shoddy first half, Arsenal improved after the break, but after Guardiola attempted to pull down the shutters, Martinelli prised the opening.
Guardiola selected the same starting eleven for a third consecutive match – the first time he had done so in four years.
That rare continuity paid dividends early on for the visitors.
Arsenal had won their opening two home matches with eight unanswered goals but it took City just nine minutes to breach them.
Haaland, who is absolutely cooking this season, started and finished the move.
The Norwegian released Tijjani Reijnders with a sweet reverse pass in the centre circle then pelted forward to receive a return ball on the angle and slotted it past David Raya and inside the far post.
Arsenal were sleepy and scrappy, second to far too many balls and lacking any zip or sharpness in their passing.
Merino was dispossessed by Reijnders on the edge of the area but the Dutchman’s eventual shot was straight at Raya.
The Emirates crowd was seething – especially at Gianluigi Donnarumma procrastinating over goal kicks and Reijnders rolling around in exaggerated agony.
But there was precious little to feel positive about – right-back Jurrien Timber was looking Arsenal’s biggest attacking threat although there was one entertaining dance routine down the right from Noni Madueke which came to nothing.
Bernardo Silva then started attracting some serious ire – first, he was booked for a horrible late challenge on Gabriel on the touchline, then he was collapsing to the turf after Trossard slammed the ball into his chestnuts when the ball went out for a throw-in.
Donnarumma was dividing the audience, City’s fans offering him songs of praise after a big punch from under the crossbar, followed by a smart near-post save to thwart a fierce Madueke shot.
Arteta had seen enough, sending for Saka and Eze at half-time, in place of Merino and the hard-done-by Madueke, while Haaland replaced right-back Abdukodir Khusanov with Matheus Nunes.
Arsenal were instantly improved – brisker and bristling with intent.
A Saka centre was cleared to Martin Zubimendi, who drilled narrowly over, then an Eze shot was pushed out by Donnarumma.
Then, from an Arsenal corner, City almost scored. On a thunderous break, Jeremy Doku sent Haaland clean through but Raya blocked the striker’s shot with his legs before Eze’s attempted clearance cannoned off Declan Rice and only narrowly cleared the bar.
Gyokeres was struggling for any sort of involvement and failed to get a touch to a Trossard centre.
Guardiola decided it was time to shut up shop, replacing Phil Foden with Nathan Ake and switching to a back five, then replacing Haaland with Nico Gonzalez.
Donnarumma finally received his yellow card for time-wasting on 76 minutes.
It was cynical stuff from City, far more like the approach of his old sparring partner Mourinho.
But when Eze sent a lofted pass over the defence, Martinelli dinked over Donnarumma and the ball dropped inside the far post – the first goal the big Italian had conceded in his third City outing.
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