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In what was a laid-back game at the Emirates, it was Arsenal who drew first blood just two minutes after kick-off.
Manchester City defender John Stones was found wanting as Kai Havertz picked his pocket to square a sublime ball in the penalty area for skipper Martin Odegaard to give the Gunners an early lead.
The next 45 minutes were flat as both teams played at a relaxed pace, trying to strike at an opportune time that never seemed to arrive. However, in a similar fashion to their opener, Havertz failed to capitalise on another City blunder in the 26th minute, as his close-range effort went wide off the right post, to Pep Guardiola’s relief.
The Gunners maintained their one-goal lead into recess.
The away side made their intentions known earlier in the second half with Erling Haaland pulling parity for them with a header just 10 minutes in.
Partey pulls Gunners to victory
That lasted barely a minute when Ghana international Thomas Partey intercepted a pass and struck a bullet outside the 18-yard box which deflected off a sky-blue shirt into the back of the net.
Two minutes after the hour mark, Haaland’s goal celebration was on full display at the Emirates albeit it was Myles Lewis-Skelly who was imitating the Norwegian after he extended Arsenal’s lead.
Not much changed after that, the game’s pace was still relatively slow but two more goals will be scored after that. None in favour of the Cityzens, with Havertz, finally bagging his deserved goal and teenage sensation Ethan Nwaneri scoring a splendid curler from the edge of the box.
A five-star performance from Mikel Arteta’s side saw the Gunners thrash Manchester City 5-1 at the Emirates to go three points clear of second-placed Nottingham Forest and six behind league leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.