Arsenal equalled their best start to a Premier League season after a goal from captain Martin Odegaard secured a 1-0 win over Hull City at the Emirates Stadium.
Mikel Arteta's side made it five consecutive victories following their only league defeat of the campaign against Brighton, extending their lead to six points at the top of the table, although Manchester City can reduce that back down to three points if they win at Nottingham Forest later on Saturday.
Arsenal now go into the next international break having conceded just five goals in 10 matches, although they continue to lack the same ruthlessness at the other end of the pitch, which should be a concern for Arteta. But the Spaniard will be delighted at having matched their club record tally of 27 points, a start also achieved in the 2022/23 campaign.
Arsenal huffed and puffed in the opening 45 minutes without much quality in the final third and it was Hull who nearly opened scoring, when Elliot Stroud was allowed to run unchallenged into the box but his low strike was saved by David Raya.
The Gunners thought they were set to be awarded a penalty for a pull on Havertz's shirt by Nobel Mendy but a VAR check revealed that the German had been offside.
Chances for the table-toppers continued to be at a premium after the break. Noni Madueke had an opportunity when he was picked on the far side of the box but could only shoot straight at Konstantinos Tzolakis.
It was Arsenal who ended the stalemate when Madueke cut in from the left and his effort was pushed away full stretch by Tzolakis at his near post but Odegaard was on hand to slam home in the 72nd minute.
Midfielder Bruno Guimaraes insisted his team were "impressive" after latest clean-sheet for Gunners, who extended their unbeaten home run in all competitions to 11 games.
"The message for us was clear in the dressing room the last time we had a break, we lost to Brighton in one of the worst games of our season," said the Brazilian. "The message today was 'leave in a good way', go to our internationals happy.
"We had a tough game, they made it feel so difficult for us, but it's impressive numbers [points total]. I'm happy for myself, for the team. We'll keep going. We've been unbelievable."
Hull started their first top-flight campaign in 10 years with two wins from two, but have failed to record a victory since beating Coventry City on August 29 and are now 13th in the table on 11 points.
Fulham and Newcastle settle for point
Fulham and Newcastle played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage, although both teams will feel frustrated they did not secure the victory.
Jacob Murphy had put Newcastle ahead with 10 minutes to go with a sublime finish only for Fulham substitute Rodrigo Muniz to quickly level to scores. The draw moved Newcastle up to 11th on 12 points with Fulham two points and four places behind.
Both teams had chances in the opening half hour with Lukas Hornicek saving Oscar Bobb's curling effort, before Bernd Leno produced an excellent stop at his near post to keep out Harvey Barnes' deft shot.
Magpies captain Dan Burn then had the ball in the back of the net with a nice finish from a short corner only for goal to be disallowed for a foul by Yoane Wissa in the box. That was quickly followed by Hornicek saving England call-up Josh King's sweet volley at the other end.
It would continue to be end-to-end in second half. Barnes should have made it 1-0 straight after break after being teed-up by Wissa but his shot clipped the outside of Leno's post, before Sander Berge dragged a low strike just off target.
With Newcastle looking the more likely to break the deadlock, Amir Dedic sent a tantalising cross into the six-yard box that just evaded William Osula.
There was a scare for Newcastle when Berge went down in the box under pressure from Burn but referee Rob Jones and VAR agreed there was not enough for a spot kick to be awarded.
It looked like Newcastle had secured all three points in the 80th minute, and is some style when Murphy cut inside from the left and curled home a beautiful finish.
But Murphy's joy was short-lived when, three minutes later, Cesar Palacios found himself through on goal but decided to cutback instead of shooting, his pass took a deflection before finding Munez who flicked home.
The match had sprung to life in spectacular fashion with the next chance falling to Lewis Hall whose low strike was saved well by Leno.
With both teams fighting for all three points, it was Hornicek's turn to step up, saving brilliantly after Fulham substitute Ryan Sessegnon fired off a powerful shot.
