Pep Guardiola finally has the Man City squad he's been building for seven years

Kevin De Bruyne's brilliance settled another big game for Manchester City, Erling Haaland showcased his improvement as a link-up man, and John Stones further cemented his status as a Blues hero with another statement display.

Add to that, key players like Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, and Ruben Dias used their experience to completely nullify any threat Arsenal had planned to unleash. Jack Grealish showed why he is undroppable on the left-wing, and Kyle Walker returned to right-back like he'd never been away.

It was one of City's best team performances of the season - and yet it was slightly different to other big wins. The tactical versatility on show must have pleased Pep Guardiola more than any goal, or title race advantage gained.

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For a start, Guardiola threw Manu Akanji in at left-back, starting there for the first time this season, and in place of natural left-footer Aymeric Laporte. Guardiola explained his selection, praising Laporte's build-up qualities, but opting for Akanji out-of-position after seeing his one-vs-one qualities against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Bukayo Saka had forced Guardiola to move Bernardo from his auxiliary left-back role at the Emirates, even if pushing the Portuguese forward resulted in City's win, and the manager has sung the praises of the Arsenal winger on multiple occasions this season. It was a risk to play Akanji against him, but one that paid off entirely as Saka barely kicked a ball in anger all night.

With Kyle Walker able to push into midfield more naturally these days - something he always struggled with - and Bernardo moving inside when Riyad Mahrez came