Arsenal full time reactions show significance of huge Man City win

Why never him?

No more can that be levelled at Jack Grealish as the Manchester City forward finally enjoyed a blockbuster moment in a big win. Having seen his opening goal at Old Trafford overshadowed, the former Villa man should savour every bit of his decisive goal to inflict Arsenal's first home defeat of the season.

A 3-1 win was a victory for Grealish's perseverance both on the night after getting into a spat with referee Anthony Taylor and in his City career. It was also a thumping message from the champions that they will take some serious beating in a title race that they barely looked in 10 days ago.

Also read: Man City ratings in Arsenal win as Dias shines

Arsenal gave plenty in an absorbing contest that should tell City they are facing a Gunners team that they have never seen during Pep Guardiola's time in England. Of their 11 consecutive league victories against them, this was one of the hardest.

But if this was Arsenal's big night, they came up against a team that are far more used to them. They just about held on in the first half when everything was thrown at them, and then made their class tell in the second to strike another psychological blow in a contest that certainly lived up to its billing.

This game was exciting people in October, the stiffest test yet of early leaders Arsenal to see what their title challenge was made of. Four months on, the fact Mikel Arteta's side still top the table has ramped up the expectations and the pressure.

Recent events have added to that, with an inconsistent-yet-galvanised City given fresh impetus to control the Premier League against an Arsenal team that haven't won a match since they were knocked out of the FA Cup at the Etihad last month. Having praised the