Arteta hails his players for beating the 'best team in the world'

Mikel Arteta hailed his side’s victory over the ‘best team in the world’ in Manchester City on Sunday night as Arsenal ended an eight-year winless run against their rivals in the league.

Substitute Gabriel Martinelli scored in the 86th minute, having returned from a hamstring injury, which proved the game’s decisive moment. Arsenal’s last league victory against City came back in December 2015.

‘You could sense it’s been so many years without beating them,’ Gunners boss Arteta said. ‘Today I think we beat the best team in the world without a question of a doubt.

‘We did it in a great way because there were moments where we had to suffer and moments where we showed real desire, determination and belief to beat them. So I’m really happy. ‘It sends a message to the team to keep believing in what they’re doing because they’re a fantastic group of players.’

The Spaniard referenced the morale-sapping 4-1 defeat to City in April, which all but ended their title hopes last season, as a crucial experience on their journey to Sunday’s long-overdue success.

‘To beat them we have to lose against them, we have to lose probably the way we lost at the Etihad,’ he said.

‘We lost in two different ways last season, where we were the better team, especially in the first half and then we concede the goal on the backpass of (Takehiro) Tomiyasu and (Kevin) De Bruyne scoring. The team showed a real maturity today, that comes from experiences. Sometimes you need that to become a better team.’

Goalkeeper David Raya kept a clean-sheet but faced scrutiny after a jittery performance, especially in the first half.

Home supporters had voiced their frustrations at Raya with cries for him to ‘play it forward’ after taking his time on the ball, particularly