Late Martinelli strike beats City as Arsenal join Tottenham on top of Premier League

Gabriel Martinelli celebrates with Arsenal team-mates after scoring a late winner against Manchester City in the Premier League in October 2023.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Gabriel Martinelli scored a late winner to give Arsenal victory over title rivals Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

The Brazilian forward, who was making his return from injury, replaced Leandro Trossard at the break and netted the only goal of the game with a deflected strike after 86 minutes.

Martinelli's effort from the edge of the box took a big deflection off Nathan Ake and gave Ederson no chance as the Gunners sealed a first win over City in the Premier League since 2015.

It sees Arsenal move joint top alongside north London rivals Tottenham with eight games played.

Arsenal and Spurs are the only two teams still unbeaten in the competition this season and head into the forthcoming international break on 20 points apiece, each with a goal difference of +10.

Technically, Tottenham are alone in top spot, having scored two more goals than the Gunners.

City are two points further back, having lost two Premier League games in a row for the first time since 2018.

Following the international break, Arsenal travel to Chelsea in a London derby on October 21st.

Manchester City, meanwhile, are at home to Brighton on the same day as they look to avoid a third straight Premier League loss.

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A brand new technology was due to be trialled at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal's game against Manchester City. 

Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta was "worried" about an issue within his side and was hopeful it can be resolved before Sunday's game.

And Declan Rice exclusively told FourFourTwo why he chose to join the Gunners this summer.

Ben Hayward
Weekend editor

Ben Hayward is a European football writer and Tottenham Hotspur fan with over 15 years’ experience, he has covered games all over the world - including three World Cups, several Champions League finals, Euros, Copa America - and has spent much of that time in Spain. Ben speaks English and Spanish, currently dividing his time between Barcelona and London, covering all the big talking points of the weekend on FFT: he’s also written several list features and interviewed Guglielmo Vicario for the magazine.