Mikel Arteta on Arsenal's defense vs. Man City: 'The love for defending that we need was in every player'

The Gunners got the job done and make a huge statement in the Premier League title race

LONDON -- In the fourth minute of this tense, intriguing contest that ended in such stunning bedlam, David Raya miscued a pass straight to the opposition, not for the first time this week. From the resulting corner, Declan Rice did just enough on the line to keep a Josko Gvardiol flick from goal, Nathan Ake hooking just wide in the resulting tumult.

You could sense the way this contest was heading. Arsenal had worked themselves up into a lather for their biggest test of the season. Their eagerness would be their undoing as City prayed on the errors that would inevitably come. Instead, this team delivered a performance of such authority and composure that the only reaction Erling Haaland could muster was to rage at the final whistle.

It was the nearest he had got to the action in some time. For just the second time in his Premier League career, world football's most devastating striker went shotless. A near miss when Raya flapped at a cross from the left was about as close as he came. He was not alone in getting no change from a side who came into Sunday's game without a top flight clean sheet at the Emirates Stadium this season.