In a season full of disappointment for Manchester City, they must’ve thought they’d turned a corner after advancing in the UEFA Champions League in midweek.
But they were brought straight back down to earth inside two minutes here when Manuel Akanji was robbed of possession 25 yards from his own goal and Kai Havertz squared for Martin Odegaard to tap into an empty net.
Stefan Ortega was picking the ball out of his net for a second time just moments later when Gabriel Martinelli lifted the ball over him, but fortunately for a shaken City, the Brazilian had strayed offside in the build-up.
It took Pep Guardiola’s beleaguered visitors until midway through the half to test David Raya, but when they did, they forced the Spanish stopper into a stunning save, denying Josko Gvardiol with a stunning one-handed save from point-blank range.
However, City were proving to be the masters of their own downfall again soon after, as Mateo Kovacic was robbed 20 yards from goal, but an unmarked Kai Havertz incredibly dragged his effort wide with only Ortega to beat.
With only six touches for Erling Haaland in the opening 45 minutes, it came as a surprise to see him grab City’s leveller so soon after the interval when he showed great composure to head home at the far post after Savinho stood a teasing cross up.
But no sooner had they got back into the game, than they threw it away again.
An uncharacteristically slack Phil Foden pass was pounced upon by Thomas Partey, who strode forward from midfield and saw his heavily deflected effort nestle into the corner.
The Gunners were never likely to sit comfortably on a one-goal lead, so it was no surprise to see them chase a third goal, which duly arrived from the right boot of teenage sensation Myles Lewis-Skelly, who curled into the far corner before adding yet more needle to the game by mimicking Haaland’s celebration.
That didn’t particularly spur City on, rather gave Arsenal more incentive, and they added a fourth almost 15 minutes later when Havertz atoned for his earlier miss by curling into the far corner after a lightning-quick Gunners break.
A disgruntled Guardiola was visibly rattled on the touchline, but he was powerless to change the result, watching on as his side fell eleven further behind in the title race by losing just their second game from their last 41 post-January Premier League games.
The day belonged to Arsenal though, who even drew some oles from their fans in the closing stages as they secured their longest unbeaten league run since 2018 and added the icing on the cake with the last kick of the game when Ethan Nwaneri added a stunning fifth.