Arsenal v Manchester City player ratings: Tomiyasu 4, Saka 7; De Bruyne 9, Haaland 8

Champions take over at top of Premier League after 3-1 win over Gunners

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  ARSENAL RATINGS: Aaron Ramsdale 7: Left in no man’s land by Tomiyasu pass ahead of De Bruyne’s goal. Saw Rodri header hit crossbar on brink of half-time. Beaten by deflected Grealish shot and no chance with Haaland finish. Reuters

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  Takehiro Tomiyasu 4: Disastrous back-pass gifted opening goal to De Bruyne. Side-footed chance over bar at other end minutes later. Booked just after break for trying to steal a few metres with throw-in. Deflected Grealish’s shot for City’s second. Not Japanese full-back’s night. AP

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  Gabriel 6: Gave away second-half penalty and was booked for bundling over Haaland but rescued by VAR offside call against big Norwegian. Gave ball away at start of move that led to Grealish scoring. AP

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  William Saliba 7: Has been top quality this season and had OK night up against the toughest of opponents in Haaland but couldn’t stop Norwegian putting City 3-1 up. PA

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  Olseksandr Zinchenko 7: Left-back’s brilliant cross saw Nketiah miss first big chance of game. Frustrating night against former club who proved too strong in end. AFP

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  Jorginho 6: Slotted well into Arsenal’s midfield although one or two moments when he wasn’t quite on same wavelength as new teammates. AP

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  Granit Xhaka 8: Wild shot over bar in second minute but generally was Arsenal driving force from midfield. His fine pass put Nketiah through on goal that ended with penalty for Gunners. Took too long to get shot away when found himself in good position late in second half. AFP

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  Martin Odegaard 7: Not the dominating force in midfield that he has been so regularly this campaign. Not that Norwegian had bad game just City made life much tougher for midfielder after break putting him under much more pressure. EPA

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  Bukayo Saka 7: Kept his composure after long City protests over penalty decision before calmly sending Brazilian wrong way from spot. Took a few kicks off Silva until the City player was finally booked. AP

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  Gabriel Martinelli 6: Has been key player in Arsenal’s charge to the top of the table this season but couldn’t really get into the game here and taken off in second half. EPA

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  Eddie Nketiah 6: Headed glorious chance wide in 21st minute when he should have scored. Fouled by Ederson just after shooting from wide angle that resulted in Arsenal winning penalty. Booked for studs-up challenge on Dias. Missed another headed opportunity late in game. AP

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  SUBS: Landro Trossard (On for Martinelli 75’) 6: Had home fans appealing for penalty after going down in box but rightly waved away by referee. PA

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  Fabio Vieira (On for Xhaka 83’) N/A. PA

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  Ben White (On for Tomiyasu 83’) N/A. AFP

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  MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson 7: Booked for time-wasting in first half then took out Nketiah minutes later to give away penalty. Arsenal managed just one shot on target against Brazilian all night when Saka scored from spot. Getty

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  Kyle Walker 7: Did well against in-form Arsenal attackers, particularly Martinelli who had very little impact. Unusual booking for coming back on to field without referee’s permission in opening 45 minutes. Reuters

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  Ruben Dias 8: Great covering in 11th minute when Portuguese centre-half was over quickly to Nketiah shot. Great defending again 15 minutes from time to nick ball off feet of Xhaka. Getty

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  Nathan Ake 7: Produced brilliant last-ditch sliding effort to clear Nketiah shot off line - only for referee to give penalty for Ederson’s challenge on Arsenal striker. Reuters

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  Ilkay Gundogan 7: German midfielder provided simple ball into feet of Grealish after quick City break ended with City attacker scoring. Also played key role in Haaland’s goal. Reuters

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  Rodri 8: Saw header just before break hit crossbar after clipping leg of teammate Ake. Regularly broke up Arsenal’s attacks and set team off on the counter. The fulcrum in midfield who was absolutely crucial to City’s win. PA

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  Kevin de Bruyne 9: Absolutely stunning first-time finish to clip ball over Ramsdale and put City in front and provided assist for Haaland’s goal. Angry shove on Mikel Arteta in second half when Arsenal manager blocked Belgian trying to take quick throw-in. Getty

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  Bernardo Silva 7: Extra defensive responsibility trying to contain Saka down the left flank but was no surprise when he picked up first-half booking for series of challenges on England attacker. Moved out on to right later in second half. EPA

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  Jack Grealish 7: England attacker put City back in front with a deflected finish in 71st minute for only his third goal this season. Booked for complaining after corner decision was, correctly, not given in his favour. AFP

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  Riyad Mahrez 6: Picked out Haaland with fine ball over defence in 15th minute but that was extent of his big moments in pretty quiet match for Algerian. Hooked just after hour mark. AFP

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  Erling Haaland 8: Only sniff of goal came in first half came after quarter-of-an-hour but could only redirect the ball back across face of goal with no teammate waiting. Won City a penalty only for offside call by VAR earlier in move. Finished confidently to put City 3-1 ahead. EPA

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  SUBS: Manuel Akanji (On for Mahrez 61’) 7: Saw shot blocked on line by Jorginho although might have been ruled out for offside call early in move. PA

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  Phil Foden (On for Grealish 77’) N/A. AP

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  Kalvin Phillips (On for De Bruyne 87’) N/A. EPA

Manchester City earned a crucial 3-1 win against title rivals Arsenal as the resurgent champions knocked the Gunners off the top of the Premier League on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola's side showed they are not ready to surrender the title with a ruthless display of finishing that lifted them above Arsenal on goal difference.

Kevin De Bruyne put City ahead in the first half at the Emirates Stadium and, although Bukayo Saka equalised with a penalty, Jack Grealish landed the vital blow in the second half when he restored the visitors' lead.

Erling Haaland's 26th goal in 22 league appearances for City killed off Arsenal in the closing stages.

“In the first half, Arsenal were much better than us,” said City manager Guardiola. "We were not intense enough, maybe because I changed something and it was not good enough. In the second half we were much more aggressive and much, much better. And yeah, we did it.”

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta felt that it was a self-inflicted defeat for his team. “At the end it is disappointment because we lost,” said the Spaniard. “And I mean we lost it. It was an incredible battle between two teams and when we had them we gave them the goals. On the other hand, we had three big chances and we did not put them away.

“To beat them we have to be above our level because of the quality they have. We matched them and had them in moments, but the games are defined by individual moments in the box and they were better than us.”

You can see the player ratings from Wednesday's match in the gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or swipe if using a mobile device.