The Football Show: Martinelli's deflected strike clinches important Arsenal win over Manchester City

Let's start at the Emirates where after 12 failed attempts Arsenal finally beat Manchester City in the Premier League underlining their title credentials and giving supporters hope they can go one better this season. Mikel Arteta admitted it could be a watershed moment for his side after Gabriel Martinelli's late winner sparked wild celebrations after a game short on chances. 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 here when we were the better team especially in the first half and then we conceded the goal on the back pass of Tomeias when De Bruyne was scoring. But the team showed their real maturity today. That maturity comes from experiences and sometimes you need that to become a better team. Well it certainly sends a message to the team. They keep believing in what they are doing. They are a fantastic group of players. The way they try, the understanding and the chemistry that they have between them. You sense it and you need it to beat them. They were all dancing and super happy. They were on international break. Their mood is always much better. They are going to have a few days off. It just sends everybody to the next game against Chelsea away with the right spirit and the right emotion and it's great. Really happy. So he's happy. Arsenal fans are happy. Sue, how big a moment could that Martinelli-Aké deflection turn out to be? It could be. It was a huge win. Psychologically a big boost. You just thought it was always going to be a game that was won by fine margins. Martinelli came on and he was brilliant. Obviously it was the deflection off Aké that took it past the goalkeeper but both defences were really strong and it looked like it was probably going to end up a draw. You could just see what it meant to the players, the staff, the fans. That boost certainly could help them for the rest of the season. You look at last season where they were ahead and Manchester City chased them down and ended up winning the title. They are experiences that I'm sure Arsenal will have learnt from. I think it's a huge win for Arteta personally but also for the team. You have to go back to December 2015. Arsene Wenger was in charge. Pellegrini was in the opposite dugout for this kind of result to happen. I just wonder though, you've got what could be a huge, galvanising, bonding, positive atmosphere within that dressing room. Now they're flung to all four quarters of the world to play international football. Does that disrupt it? Can they keep that emotion and that positivity amongst that group when they all return? I think that's the big thing but when Michael Arteta spoke after the game there, you could see how happy he was. How happy he is to release the players and let them go to their international duty. That change of scenery can sometimes be a nice thing as well so there's not that intensity of being in the same environment all the time. I think what will probably be important to Michael Arteta is also when he comes back is to remind them of that game straight away and that feeling. It was interesting, I spoke to him after the game when I was working at the game and he said, last season's game losing at Manchester City was a big, big moment for them to understand what it takes to be better and to get better. He said we almost had to bottle that up and use it. There's so many little things where you cherry-pick things and say, we need to remember that, we need to think of that, we need to use that. Obviously, the result yesterday was a great result for them. It's very early on in the season but the confidence that will give them going forward is massive. It is, yes. I am very well aware that we're in the 9th of October. But the stats, the maths even for me, I was in Maths Set 6, are kind of simple. If Arsenal had beaten City in either game last season, they would have won the title. Do you expect the margins to be so fine again this season and therefore the significance of that 1-0 win is huge then? Yes. I think, as Stephen said there, they will have reflected on last season and looked at different games and looked at different parts of games as well where maybe they could have done better. You use all of those experiences for this season. Of course, I think it's going to be tight. Manchester City, I think we all know, yes, they've been on a run where probably not been at their very best. But we know that they're the team to catch. But there is other teams that are going to be in and around them this season. So picking up points, obviously winning last week when Manchester City didn't win was big for Arsenal. But to then back it up against one of your rivals that you know you're going to be challenging come the end of the season, I think is huge. I think you looked at how they had to really dig in. I think that was a big thing for me that they restricted Manchester City to four shots, I think it was. The fence were absolutely brilliant and they've had to show different sides to the game already this season. And that's a real plus point, I think, for Arteta. Are they the closest challengers to City or are City-Arsenal's closest challengers? Which one is it? I think there'll be four teams in it. I think you'll have obviously Manchester City and Arsenal be the two who are fighting it out again. I think Liverpool will come into that. And I think Spurs will be in it for a while. Whether they can sustain it, we're not so sure. We don't know where exactly they are at the moment. But teams have improved, not just Arsenal. I think the signings that they've made, I thought Declan Rice was outstanding yesterday. When you talk about digging in and putting up a proper performance and showing why you've cost £100 million, I thought that was his best game in an Arsenal shirt so far. And it showed why they wanted him. I think when you look at Liverpool, they've improved. I think you look at Tottenham as well, they've vastly improved. So I don't think we can just say it's going to be Manchester City and Arsenal. I think there's teams that are capable of taking points off all four of those teams. I think we have to remember as well, there was no sacker. How much have we praised him for however many seasons? And he's one of their key players and yet he wasn't there. I think Martinelli being back-fit is huge for them. Because I think when they've got their, I suppose, first-choice front three or four with Odegaard in there, they're so difficult to stop. So I think you can praise them from that perspective. But I think also defensively, making sure that they keep their defenders fit. Saliba being injured last season, I think just had a massive impact, wasn't it? And he was brilliant again. And I think that partnership with him and Gabriel are so key for Arsenal. City fans would perhaps point out that they had two very high-profile players missing as well. And we all kind of weigh up which was more significant. Is it fair to say yesterday's game wouldn't be one that's making a Christmas DVD? But Arsenal, they have been said this. I'm thinking maybe the draw against Fulham. They would have hoped to have won the North London derby. I would have thought, considering they were at home. So they have sort of, even the Forest game on the opening day of the season was, Arsenal haven't been quite firing at their best, yet they're still joint top of the table. So when Arteta sits down in this international break and assesses the start they've had, what will he think? I'm sure he'll be delighted. But I'm sure he'll be looking at it as well, thinking there's more to come from my team. I think there's more to come from Declan Rice, as good as he was yesterday. I think he's still adapting to the way that Arsenal play. I think Kai Havertz is an interesting one. We haven't seen the best of him. People will say, well, we didn't see the best of him at Chelsea. But I still feel that there'll be more to come from him as well. I think the key thing for Arsenal, though, is that everyone talks about them having a central striker. I think it's key that they keep the two wide players fit. You see the difference Martinelli makes yesterday. When you're a former full-back like myself and you're playing against someone who's so direct in both Martinelli and Saka, it changes the way that you play your game as well. You can't continue to make forward runs constantly because you've got to conserve some amount of energy to make sure that you can defend in 1v1 situations. And because of the way Arsenal play, and they like to isolate the wingers 1v1 against their full-backs, it's such a difficult thing to defend against. Whereas when you've got Trossard playing on that right or left-hand side and you've got Gabriel Jesus on the wings, it's not quite the same. You know they're not going to run you. You know they're not going to take you on in that way. It's going to be a little bit different in the way they play, a little bit more intricate trying to bounce the ball off the striker. That's easier to defend against as a back four because you can sit in narrow and you know they're always wanting to come inside. So the dynamic of Arsenal's team changes when you lose those wide players. Is David Raya and his performance going to be something that Mikel Arteta will ponder over this international break? From the outside looking in, it seems like he's given himself a headache that he didn't need to give himself it. And I think we said that, didn't we, when David Raya came in? We sort of said this is a situation that Mikel Arteta is going to have to deal with because you've got two number ones there. You've got two very good goalkeepers that are going to be obviously fighting to get that number one shirt. It's okay saying you're going to balance it out with games because there's lots of games. But when those big games come, like against Manchester City, you want to be starting and playing. And he did look nervy in those opening moments. He nearly got chased down by Alvarez, wasn't he? And I think I listened to Mikel Arteta after the game and he said that's on me. I told him to do that. But yeah, it's an awkward one. It's a difficult situation, I think, because you've got Ramsdale there going, well, I want to be playing. So yes, it's competition for places. That was the one that I was talking about. So there is those competition for places and you obviously want to get the best out of both your goalkeepers. But it's a situation that probably didn't need to occur. Because he wasn't having the best of the first half, was he? I mean, we're just seeing some of them here. And Mikel Arteta has spoken about actually tactically, or if a player's not playing well, I want to be able to change all my positions and that's why I've got these two keepers. And looking at it from that first half display, you would have thought, well, if ever a keeper's not having a good game and you want to swap one in for the other, this is the moment. Yet he didn't do it. No, but we're focusing on the negative. We're not focusing on the positive, which was the second half display to rectify it. And he was better in the second half. And Mikel Arteta spoke about that and said, maybe at half-time he gets in and says, listen, I know I'm telling you to play out from the back and try and play, but if it needs to go, you make a decision. And he spoke to us about that after the game when we were interviewing him for another network. And it was just, when you hear that straight away, that's good management. And it's trying to get your message on as quick as you can. I still think he will be his number one because of the decisions that have been made in recent weeks. Also as well, I have to be careful how I word this, but he's come from Brentford where there isn't a huge pressure. There is a pressure because you're in the Premier League and you want to win games. You're now going for the title. The game yesterday was huge. It was massive. All the networks are there. All the countries are there. Everyone's following it. Suddenly you're under the microscope. That changes how you play that game. And that's what he's got to adapt to as well. So Mikel Arteta's not daft. He won't think, I'm going to take him out of the firing line now. He'll be thinking, that's a great experience for you. And you're going to learn from that. And you're going to become a better goalkeeper for that. So I think it's just part of the process that Mikel Arteta will continue with David Raya. And the fact that he responded in that second half, I suppose, is a positive for Mikel Arteta. He's spoken to him at half-time. He's come out the second half and was better, was more composed, was good in the box coming out and collecting crosses. So I suppose that's something that you then take forward, isn't it? I go back to this. He has created this discussion, this debate, this headache, this feeling, when he didn't need to, did he? But the discussion's over, isn't it, now? Because we all know that David Raya's the number one. So, yes, it's not a nice situation. And we all think Aaron Ramsdale's being hard done to. However, Mikel Arteta has got to make big decisions to try and win Arsenal, the league. He feels that whether it's right or wrong, whether we agree with it or not, it doesn't matter what we think. It's what the manager thinks. It's what he sees. It's what he sees his vision is. More often than not, Mikel Arteta's got it right. Over the three years, four years that he's been in charge, we've questioned some of the things he's done. We've debated it on here. And more often than not, you've got to hold your hands up and say, correct decision for Arsenal Football Club. And some of the biggest decisions are the most brutal decisions, where you go, he's done nothing wrong, though. But he obviously feels that he needed to do something. And whether that's nice or not, that's his job as a manager. He's not there to make friends. He's there to build a football club that wins trophies, that competes at the highest level. And it is harsh on Aaron Ramsdale. I feel so sorry for him. But that's not his job, to be his friend.