Manchester Metropolis struck first blood in opposition to Arsenal as Nathan Ake’s objective earned Pep Guardiola’s males a spot within the fifth spherical of the FA Cup with a 1-0 win on Saturday.
The edges will meet twice extra within the subsequent three months within the Premier League with the title on the road.
Arsenal holds a five-point lead over the defending champion on the prime of the desk however fell to its first defeat since November on the Etihad.
Mikel Arteta could remorse making six adjustments because the Gunners lacked their traditional spark within the last third, with Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli amongst these left on the bench.
However Martinelli’s substitute, Leandro Trossard, did make a optimistic impression on his full debut.
The Belgian worldwide teed up Takehiro Tomiyasu to sting the palms of Stefan Ortega earlier than Trossard pressured the German goalkeeper into one of the best save of the primary half.
In between occasions on the different finish, Rob Holding was having to resort to man-handling Erling Haaland to maintain him quiet.
The Norwegian noticed an formidable overhead kick from lengthy vary cleared by Tomiyasu with Arsenal ‘keeper Matt Turner stranded earlier than Kevin De Bruyne curled Metropolis’s greatest effort of the primary half inches huge.
Arteta took no possibilities on the break by introducing William Saliba for Holding with the Englishman on a reserving.
Guardiola had made only one outfield change from Metropolis’s 3-0 win over Wolves.
Nonetheless, it was one in all his substitutes, Julian Alvarez, that introduced a lacklustre second half to life 26 minutes from time.
The Argentine’s long-range effort cannoned again off the publish, and from the rebound, Jack Grealish’s go picked out Ake, who curled into the far nook.
Arteta responded by throwing on Martinelli, Odegaard and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
The guests practically hit again instantly as solely an excellent clearance from Aymeric Laporte denied Eddie Nketiah a tap-in.
However Arsenal did not create one other likelihood to equalise as Metropolis comfortably noticed out the closing phases to put down a marker on the challengers to their crown because the dominant pressure in English soccer.
