Mikel Arteta’s faith in David Raya, Erling Haaland problem and history made – Things we learnt from Arsenal’s win over Man City

There could hardly be a bigger match to end this run of Premier League fixtures than Manchester City vs Arsenal, and the result could be profound.

Arsenal sent a title message to the champions with a 1-0 win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon, which ends a 12-game winning run City have on the north Londoners in the Premier League.

There’s only eight matches on the board heading into the October international break, and plenty of time for City to recover, but there’s every indication the fight will be tougher this time around.

Finishing five points short last season with a 4-1 defeat at the Etihad more or less putting the final nail in the coffin, Arsenal were put back in their place by the back-to-back-to-back champions.

Now comprehensively emerging from that box, Arsenal are looking serious, far more so than just a late winner from Gabriel Martinelli would suggest.

Needing such a close margin of victory may suggest the match could have gone either way, but there were plenty of takeaways that showed that wasn’t the case.

Arsenal reduced Erling Haaland to zero shots, and City an even more miserly four.

It’s the fewest a Pep Guardiola side has managed in the league since Barcelona in 2010, and a real statement of Mikel Arteta’s tactical prowess.

William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhas were flawless throughout, but there’s certainly evidence the Gunners’ lack of cohesion to start the campaign may have been them just warming up for this match, particularly in terms of tactics.

The statistics speak for themselves, the three-game suspension Rodri received for putting his hands around Morgan Gibbs-White’s throat has seen three defeats.

Guardiola acknowledged it post-match, saying: “That is a stat we cannot deny. But we put players