Manchester City and Arsenal have been the Premier League’s best teams over the course of the last two seasons.

Their meetings have felt like gargantuan clashes in the journey of discovering who will win the country’s top division but not always delivered the entertainment that some would expect from the quality of players on display. Sunday’s meeting perhaps did not show an abundance of free-flowing football but it delivered the entertainment and drama worthy of the game, in a manner nearing clashes between Manchester United and Arsenal of old.

When Rodri hit the floor in the opening seconds of the game, the stage was set for what was about to transpire. The Spain star was left clutching his face after colliding with Kai Havertz but there was deemed to be no red card offence having taken place.

A physical start to the game followed and Erling Haaland soon opened the scoring. The City forward scored his 100th goal for the club in 105 appearances and his 10th of the season, and outpaced Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes before slotting past David Raya.

Arsenal cruelly denied famous Man City win after 10-men concede in last minute – 6 talking points
Pep Guardiola’s side did not have to wait long to suffer a blow however. As early as the 16th minute Rodri went down under the challenge of Thomas Partey, clutching his leg.

Once again VAR deemed the incident unworthy of intervention but Rodri was left in tears as he was ultimately forced from the field. The momentum of the game quickly changed as Mateo Kovacic was introduced to replace the 28-year-old.

Soon after the restart, Arsenal found themselves quickly taking a free kick. Gabriel Martinelli drove at City’s defence before laying the ball off to Riccardo Calafiori. The Italian defender, on his full debut, launched an impressive strike to level the game.

City were left furious. There was a suggestion that Arsenal took their initial free kick from a more advantageous position which saw Ederson eventually earn a yellow card.

The Gunners took control of the game at this point and were able to find more success before the end of the half. Gabriel headed home from Bukayo Saka’s corner to give the visitors an advantage.

It was another goal that was not without contention. VAR deemed that Gabriel Martinelli did not foul Ederson in the build up to Gabriel’s effort but Ruben Dias earned a yellow card for his protests.

The half would not end there however as more drama emerged as late as the eighth minute of stoppage time. Leandro Trossard cynically fouled Bernado Silva before launching the ball away after the referee’s whistle had gone.

To the disbelief of Arsenal, it was a second yellow card for the Belgian who was given his marching orders. The Gunners stars frantically protested on the pitch, while Arteta half took off his jumper before making his case to the fourth official to no avail.

The break saw Ben White replace Bukayo Saka as Arsenal opted to utilise a back five in a bid to suppress the Premier League champions. Manchester City dominated possession with their one-man advantage and the first 15 minutes following half-time saw the Gunners manage just 13 passes compared to City’s 138.

Opportunities were taken by Arsenal’s stars to go down in a bid to tick time over, to the extent Michael Oliver was not always forthcoming in believing the Gunners’ claims of cramps. As David Raya looked to stretch out and frustrate his opposition, Arsenal youngster Myles Lewis-Skelly was cautioned by the official for something he said, despite having yet to make his Premier League debut.

Once again it was in stoppage time where the drama racheted up. First Jurrien Timber went down claiming an injury, to which Oliver invited Arsenal to kick the ball out themselves. Raya launched the ball up the field but not out of play as City were able to keep the ball in but the official then stopped play to the home side’s frustrations and Bernado Silva picked up a yellow card.

Seven minutes later City eventually found the net. The ball fell to John Stones to scramble into the net to spark jubilant celebrations that included Haaland throwing the ball of an Arsenal defender, with some tension also present between the benchs.

Following the restart, things flared up on the pitch. Looking to press the ball, Haaland flattened Partey, who had now made his debut, as the midfielder attempted to block him. Gabriel then came head-to-head with City’s forward as full-time soon arrived.

Below Mirror Football have listed some of the flashpoints from a dramatic match that saw 33 shots from City compared to Arsenal’s five, and seven yellow cards shared between the sides.

Timeline of drama
1 min – Rodri falls to the floor and holds his face after colliding with Havertz from kick-off. Players from both teams crowd the Spaniard but no card is produced as VAR looks at the incident without intervening.

5 mins – Haaland throws himself into a challenge with William Saliba as the pair contest for an aerial ball. It was forceful from the Norway international to continue to set the tone for the game as each player went flying through the air.

9 mins – Haaland scores his 100th Manchester City goal to hand his side the lead and quell any fears he could not score against Saliba and Gabriel.

16 mins – Rodri goes down injured under the challenge of Partey. The midfielder, a key part of City’s control until this points, was forced off on his first Premier League start of the season.

22 mins – Riccardo Calafiori scores on his Premier League full debut with a thunderbolt before Manchester City protest where Arsenal took a free kick from in the build up. Ederson shown a yellow card.

34 mins – Trossard receives first yellow card for a cynical foul.

45+1 mins – Gabriel scores his second header in a week as it was decided Martinelli did not foul Ederson. Ruben Dias shown yellow after demanding a foul be awarded.

45+8 mins – Leandro Trossard sent off after being shown a second yellow card.

65 mins – Lewis-Skelly awarded a yellow card after speaking to the referee despite having not yet featured in the Premier League.

83 mins – Declan Rice shown a yellow card for delaying a restart before a throw-in.

91 mins – Timber goes down and Oliver invites Arsenal to kick the ball out,. Referee eventually blows up to City frustrations despite Raya’s kick upfield being kept in by City.

98 mins -John Stones scores City’s equaliser and Haaland throws ball off an Arsenal player in his celebrations

99 mins – Play stopped after Haaland barges into Thomas Partey after the Arsenal player attempts to block his run from the restart. Haaland then squares up with Gabriel.

Arsenal continued their north London derby dominance as Gabriel headed home their second-half winner at Tottenham.

It had looked as if the game may meander towards a goalless draw before the Gunners centre-half stepped up with 25 minutes of the game remaining.

A frantic first-half saw both teams have periods on top, but neither were clinical enough to make the most of their opportunities. Dominic Solanke and Gabriel Martinelli were among those to get sights of goal, only to be denied as they remained goalless at the interval.

Not since 1988 has Arsenal won three successive trips to the white half of north London, but they have dominated this fixture in recent seasons and continued that trend despite being without Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice for the trip.

An attritional affair saw eight yellow cards dished out – less than 24 hours after Chelsea’s win at Bournemouth had seen the highest number of yellow cards in Premier League history.

Not since 2009 had an Arsenal-Tottenham clash in the league ended without a goal but the amount of goal mouth action remained brief before a corner in front of the away end saw Gabriel head home just after the hour mark. The Gunners have thrived on set pieces and that trend continued, keeping them within touching distance at the top.

1 Gabriel steps up
The centre-half does love a goal in a big game and there are few bigger. Much was made of the way Arsenal excelled from corners and free-kicks last term, owing to them employing a set piece coach. Gabriel has been among those to prosper from deliveries into the box and that was the case once more.

Over the past two years the Brazilian has scored goals at Stamford Bridge and Anfield. Now he can add the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to that list. Gabriel managed to lose Sergio Romero in the box and his header from point blank range was never going to be stopped. He, his team-mates and the travelling faithful were united in that corner of the stadium as they rejoiced.

2 Issues staring Tottenham in the face
Another killer of an afternoon for Ange Postecoglou’s side. So much to like about them, but the things that hold them back seem to be a constant issue. Go back to their other loss at Newcastle and Tottenham looked much the better team, producing some impressive patterns and periods.

Again on their own patch they worked some good positions, but were undermined by their end product. Set pieces have also been an Achilles heel and that area proved to be the defining moment of the game. Postecoglou has received plaudits for some of his work in the capital – but the same conversations are happening time and time again.

3 Questions will hang over Solanke
The summer signing has been somewhat billed as Harry Kane’s replacement, just 12 months late, but he’s got someway to go before that happens. Still waiting for his first Tottenham goal, Solanke is in danger of being the striker who does every well but score and take those big chances, even if he did enjoy a prolific year last time out.

The ex-Bournemouth man began the game impressively, running the channels, grafting off the ball and rushing the Arsenal backline. He also seemed to ruffle William Saliba’s feathers – which is something few manage to do. Solanke though – as well as Tottenham – will be left to rue his missed chance in the first-half, where he just took too long and failed to get a shot off with the goal at his mercy. Easy to say so, but Kane at least gets an effort on goal in that scenario.

4 Lacking a cutting edge
Talking of strikers, whilst Tottenham got one in the summer, Arsenal didn’t. For several supporters it was the one issue with their summer business – the failure to land a prolific frontman. Kai Havertz continues to be the answer for now with Gabriel Jesus on the bench.

Arsenal though are up against City and Haaland, who now has nine goals in four games. There were scenarios at Tottenham that a clinical frontman may have prospered from. Neither side were overly efficient in front of goal, but given the Gunners have title ambitions, it remains a concern that will rear its head in big moments. Easy to look at their goal column last term, but their crucial loss against Aston Villa came after a wasteful afternoon in north London – and the problem is yet to be addressed.

5 The need to be perfect
Arsenal have been unable to hold off Manchester City over the past two years. Despite holding a lead the champions have chased them down so those at the Emirates know they can ill afford to give Pep Guardiola’s outfit a head start, even at this early stage of the season.

Going into Sunday’s derby the Manchester outfit held a five point lead over Arsenal having played 24 hours earlier. It meant that, even going into the fourth game of the season, a win felt like it was essential. You need to be near perfect to overhaul the winning juggernaut that is City – which means their win at Tottenham was just what the doctor ordered.

Liverpool’s perfect start under manager Arne Slot came to an abrupt end as Nottingham Forest stunned Anfield with a 1-0 win on Saturday.

Callum Hudson-Odoi scored the only goal 18 minutes from time to secure Forest’s first away league win against Liverpool in 55 years.

Liverpool had won all three of their opening games under Slot without conceding, including a 3-0 win away at Manchester United two weeks ago

But the Reds were sloppy and sluggish after the international break and made to pay.

Luis Diaz was unlucky not to spark the home side into life when he robbed Ryan Yates and smashed a shot off the inside of the post midway through the first half.

Diogo Jota volleyed straight at Matz Sels, who then denied Alexis Mac Allister with a header but Liverpool never managed to click through the gears against a well-organised Forest side, who are yet to lose in the Premier League this season.

The visitors did ride their luck when Sels fumbled a looping Diaz header and just scooped up the loose ball before it crossed the line.

Slot tried to liven up Liverpool with a triple change on the hour mark as Diaz, Jota and Mac Allister were sacrificed after their exertions on international duty.

Trent Alexander-Arnold was pushed forward into midfield as a result, but the move backfired as it was Forest’s substitutes who were the ones to make a difference.

Anthony Elanga sprinted forward on the counter-attack and fed Hudson-Odoi, who cut inside and fired brilliantly low and hard beyond Alisson Becker.

Slot’s men failed to rally and the stands at Anfield even began to empty with five minutes remaining, a rare sight during Jurgen Klopp’s glorious reign in charge.

Defeat leaves the Reds three points behind champions Manchester City, who stretched their perfect start to the season with a 2-1 win over Brentford.

And Slot has little time to come up with a solution as Liverpool travel to AC Milan to begin their Champions League campaign on Tuesday.