Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal have broken a significant barrier in their bid to win the Premier League after Gabriel Martinelli’s late goal sealed a cathartic 1-0 victory against Manchester City.

Arteta’s side had lost their previous 12 league meetings with City before Martinelli’s 86th-minute strike deflected off Nathan Ake to spark wild celebrations at the Emirates Stadium.

For the first time since December 2015, the Gunners could savour a victory over City and they embraced the moment amid jubilant scenes on the pitch and among the 60,000 sell-out crowd.

Arsenal had already beaten City on penalties in the Community Shield at Wembley in August, a success they celebrated with almost as much vigour as Sunday’s.

But this was a far more important result, coming not in a glorified friendly but in the red-hot atmosphere of a crucial clash between the champions and their closest rivals last season.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

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