ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Bukayo Saka will NOT play for England due to his ongoing injury.
However, the Gunners defeating Manchester City for the first time in the Premier League in EIGHT YEARS would have softened the blow.
Gabriel Martinelli scored the only goal of the game as the Gunners charged up to level on points with league leaders Spurs.
Meanwhile, the Gunners are monitoring Wolves winger Pedro Neto ahead of a potential January move according to talkSPORT.
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Follow ALL of the latest from the Emirates Stadium below…
- By Cosmo Teare
Saka to report for England duty
Bukayo Saka is reportedly excited to report for England duty according to reports.
That comes despite Mikel Arteta ruling him out of contention last night.
The winger missed the victory against Manchester City as he continues to nurse multiple injuries.
But the Evening Standard report that the FA expect Saka to join up with the camp and he is keen to do so.
Credit: Getty - By Cosmo Teare
Saliba withdraws from France squad
William Saliba has withdrawn from the France squad with a toe injury and will miss the next two international fixtures.
The defender played the full 90' against City yesterday and did well to keep Haaland quiet.
Some fans have speculated that Saliba's injury is not that serious and that Arteta has played a 'masterclass' in allowing the defender to get some much needed rest.
Credit: Getty - By Cosmo Teare
Reiss Nelson Instagram post
Reiss Nelson has posted an image of photographer Stuart MacFarlane to his Instagram story.
MacFarlane delivered a rousing speech ahead of Arsenal's derby with Tottenham in 2021.
He posted a screen shot of the speech which is in Arsenal's Amazon All or Nothing Documentary.
He captioned the post "Energy!" which reflects the buzzing atmosphere after Arsenal's late win over Manchester City.
- By Jon Boon
Wild scenes
There were wild scenes at the Emirates when Gabriel Martinelli's deflected shot went past Ederson.
The ground shook as the crowd cheered the Gunners' strike.
It was eight years in the making, with Arsenal struggling against their more successful rivals.
Is this the start of a new era of success for Mikel Arteta's side?
- By Jon Boon
Piers Morgan’s delight
Sun columnist and Arsenal fan Piers Morgan was delighted with the Gunners’ victory over Man City.
He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to celebrate the moment.
Piers wrote: “BREAKING: Arsenal beat the Champions and go joint top of the League. Massive moment for @m8arteta and his team. Scrappy old game but we defended like demons & @_DeclanRice was superb again. I bet Mikel’s never enjoyed a handshake more than this one…”
- By Jon Boon
Saka out of England duty
Bukayo Saka won't be on England duty, according to Mikel Arteta.
Explaining his absence, the Spanish boss said: No, he could not make it. He has not had a single training session, so he will be out."
Arteta added: "He’s not available to play football at the moment."
- By Jon Boon
City's psychological edge
When asked if beating Man City helped the Gunners get over a psychological Man City had, Mikel Arteta said: "Well, I don’t know if it was a barrier. Obviously, it’s something that we needed to go through.
"To beat them, first of all, you have to lose against them. We have to lose probably the way we lost at the Etihad, because we lost in two different ways, last season when we were the better team in the first half and then we conceded the goal after Tomiyasu’s backpass and De Bruyne scoring.
"But the team showed a real maturity today, that maturity comes from experiences and sometimes you need that to become a better team."
- By Jon Boon
Arteta on Raya's distribution
Mikel Arteta has taken the blame for David Raya's poor distribution against Man City.
Arteta told Arsenal's website: It’s my fault, all my fault. They can pull me up on it because I asked him to do that, especially against this team, you just have to do other things and you’re get in big trouble.
"I think he was excellent, the way he dominated his box, the way he came out for crosses and set-pieces, the height that he played at. He’s got big ones, because the crowd go like this with the players. I’ve seen it, the players start to kick balls everywhere and I said to him, you don’t do that, make sure you don’t do it, and he didn’t do it.
"At the end, he got rewarded because the team started the game that we wanted to play much better, so a big compliment to him."
- By Jon Boon
Arteta's tactical tweak
Arsenal fans are only just realising they won their crunch league game against Manchester City thanks to Mikel Arteta’s genius tactical tweak.
The Gunners recorded their first win over City since 2015 after a late deflected howitzer from Gabriel Martinelli.
However, the north Londoners have boss Arteta to thank for their epic win.
That’s because all four of his Arsenal substitutes were involved in the winning goal.
Kai Havertz, Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu soon followed onto the field as well.
And the move for Martinelli’s winner started when Partey won the ball in midfield.
He lobbed the ball forward to Tomiyasu, who then headed it down to Havertz.
The German forward held the ball up before laying off a delicate pass to Martinelli whose deflected shot flew past Ederson.
- By Jon Boon
Martinelli injury
Mikel Arteta has revealed that Arsenal's medical staff were left "trembling" during the game over Gabriel Martinelli's fitness.
The winger was a fitness doubt going into the game and was only fit enough to come on from the bench, replacing Leandro Trossard at half time.
Arteta revealed after the game that his medical staff were not best pleased at the risk of playing Martinelli.
Arteta was asked how important it was to get Martinelli back in the team and said: "First of all he was great. And thank you because he's made a huge effort to be in this game.
"Nobody believed that he was going to be available but he kept saying 'I'm gonna be there.'
"All the medical staff were trembling. But he was there and we needed him because Lenadro Trossard was injured after 30 minutes and he was excellent."
- By Jon Boon
Saliba blow
Arsenal have been hit with a potential injury blow after William Saliba pulled out of the France squad today.
The French national team announced in a tweet that the defender had been forced to withdraw from the squad after suffering an injury to his right toe.
He will be replaced by Nice centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo.
Given the game against City has only just finished, France or Arsenal have not put a date on the Frenchman's return yet.
The defender will be assessed at Arsenal's London Colney training centre in due course.
- By Jon Boon
Ramsdale will be 'dancing'
Theo Walcott has said that Aaron Ramsdale will be "dancing on the bench" after David Raya's shaky first half against Manchester City.
Speaking at half-time on Raya's performance, the ex-Arsenal star said: "He's not conceding which is a bonus.
"He's been a bit edgy and nervy which could be the occasion, you sense the fans are getting on his back a bit.
"He's very edgy right now, the stadiums not giving
him confidence." - By Jon Boon
Saliba's game in numbers
William Saliba had a stunning game against Man City – keeping Erling Haaland quiet. His stats are simply impressive.
100% duels won
97% pass accuracy
0 fouls committed
Wasn't dribbled past once
- By Jon Boon
Arteta on Raya
David Raya appeared wasteful in possession at the Emirates in the first half and wobbled in goal.
But, he has the backing of his manager.
Mikel Arteta said after the game: “I think he was excellent. He may miss one or two passes. I ask him to have clarity in his vision, to understand, to provoke the adversary."
“I like players who have a lot of courage, and David certainly has that."
- By Jon Boon
Haaland trouble
Man City stars Erling Haaland and Kyle Walker clashed with Arsenal's backroom staff at the Emirates after full-time.
City lost 1-0 to the Gunners after a late winner from Gabriel Martinelli in the 86th minute.
And it appeared that Haaland and Walker were caught in a furious altercation with some members of the hosts' coaching staff as they made their way to the tunnel.
Footage showed there were arguments and some pushing between the Norway international and the North Londoners' set piece coach Nicolas Jover, who used to work for the Citizens.
The incident took place by the tunnel and Walker played peacemaker between his team-mate and Jover.
- By Jon Boon
Arsenal fan scandal
An Arsenal fan was ejected from the Emirates after hurling abuse at Samir Nasri and becoming violent with his own supporters, according to reports.
The incident took place during Manchester City's visit to north London.
Transfer expert Alex Crook spotted the chaos that unfolded as former Arsenal midfielder Nasri was lambasted.
It is understood that the unidentified person began throwing punches at fellow Arsenal fans, before they were dragged out by stewards.
talkSPORT's chief football correspondent wrote: "An #AFC fan has just been thrown out of the Emirates for squaring up to Samri Nasri near the press box.
"And then started throwing punches at fellow Arsenal fans. Absolute moron."
- By Jon Boon
All over
Arsenal have broken their Man City hoodoo.
They have beaten their rivals at the Emirates by 1-0.
It was Martinelli's deflected strike that was the difference.
What a big three points.
- By Jon Boon
1-0
Martinelli!
The Gunners lead at the Emirates in the 86th minute.
This would be massive. Can they hang on.
- By Jon Boon
Raging Gooners
Arsenal fans were left irate at referee Michael Oliver's decision not to send off Mateo Kovacic.
The Manchester City midfielder received a booking in the 29th minute for a reckless tackle on Gunners skipper Martin Odegaard, whose right Achilles felt the full force of his dangerous challenge.
Fans demanded a red card but the video assistant referee didn't oblige with their calls for the Croatia international to have an early bath.
And they were left seething five minutes later when the former Chelsea man took out Declan Rice with another poorly-timed challenge.
Oliver didn't deem the tackle worthy of a second booking, prompting a slew of angry Gooners to take to X (formerly Twitter) to vent their fury.
- By Jon Boon
Big decision
After just returning from injury, Gabriel Martinelli has entered the fray for the start of the second half.
Trossard is hooked, the Brazilian is on.
They may be missing Saka, but at least the Gunners have one of their high-flying wingers on the pitch.
- By Jon Boon
Half-time
It's half-time in the Super Sunday clash between Arsenal and Man City.
The sides go in 0-0 at the break, in what has been a tight contest.
City had one cleared off the line by Rice, missed a couple of opportunities.
Arsenal have threatened occasionally, but have looked nervy at times.
City will count themselves lucky to still have 11 men – Kovacic could have been sent off for two yellows, but Michael Oliver spared him.
- By Jon Boon
Jesus wanted by Serie A giants
Gabriel Jesus has become a shock target for Napoli.
The Serie A giants are concerned they might lose Victor Osimhen.
And the Arsenal striker is their prime target, according to Italian outlet Calciomercato.
However, the report adds that the Gunners are unlikely to entertain offers for the Brazilian.
- By Jon Boon
Arteta on Saka
Mikel Arteta has revealed he thought it best not to risk Bukayo Saka for the visit of Man City.
The England winger was thought to have won the race to play.
However, he didn't train yesterday.
Arteta told Sky Sports: "You are tempted to risk him, but he wasn't able to train yesterday so that put him out of the game straight away."
- By Jon Boon
Jorginho in
Here's the Gunners line-up in fill.
Jorginho has come in for Arsenal, instead of Havertz.
But, the big news is there's no Saka.
Still, Martinelli on the bench is a plus.
- By Ciaran Wiseman
No Saka for Arsenal
Bukayo Saka's injury has ruled him out of Arsenal's match against Manchester City.
The England winger is not included in Mikel Arteta's matchday squad after being forced off against Lens in the Champions League.
Saka's absence ends his club-record run of appearing in 87 successive Premier League matches.
Credit: Getty
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