How important was today’s win?

Sicario2 - Tier 1

I think today was huge and shouldn’t be underestimated. We really, really needed this result, maybe more than any I can remember for a while.

It’s not only getting rid of a mental block but getting one over the very same rival that shattered our dreams last season.

As we all know, last season a similar result would have meant we would have won the title meaning that these head to head games are even more important than ever - genuine 6 pointers.

This win will give us a lot of energy and encouragement moving forwards into the winter months of the season.

Said on the match thread, but this is possibly a top 3 best win for Arteta in the near 4 years he’s been with us. We hadn’t beaten City in the league since Dec 2015, that is madness.

Hopefully it will make Arteta realise what his best team is and hopefully today acts like a sliding doors moment for us.

We really need to use this victory to push us on. It’s only 8 games in but this needs to be used as a catalyst for our title challenge.

Do you believe we are in the title race?

Don Pacifico

I'm as pleased as the next person (and never said we weren't in a title race) but whilst it was great to end this record, we still struggled to create against a City team without key players.

We'll know we've progressed to the next stage when we can play them off the park when we win.

And look, I know City are the best team in the world so they set a high bar but I don't think it's unreasonable for us to aim to win with more confidence.

Qwiss

I said before we'd be title challengers if we won and we are. Had we lost I think we'd have drifted a bit. This will keep everyone focussed and full of belief. We're a team that needs that confidence and momentum to keep performing.

goon

Definitely a big win, in terms of points if nothing else.

Also think it’s a big win in terms of future fixtures. Every win helps with confidence and getting to the point Liverpool got to when challenging City.

Doing it without Saka Martinelli and Partey starting too. Last season that would have almost certainly been a a write off.

JazzG

Psychologically massive win. We’ve lost 12 on the trot to the team that we need to finish ahead for the title, then you factor in how we let it slip last season. We needed this win, by hook or crook we needed to win. We went out and competed, got a bit lucky and got the win. Both teams were missing key players so both went into the game with similar issues.

Also the doom and gloom from some of our fans in recent weeks has been intolerable. 8 games in and we are 2nd on goals scored. If you look at the points we’ve dropped we should have won both of those game as well. Last season we peaked too early, we need to peak around March onwards. This time we have loads more options in our squad but clearly haven’t found our ideal 11 yet. That will come eventually, Pep had similar issues last season.

Sicario2 - Tier 1

Agree with all of the above.

It was also essential to win a ‘50-50’ game or when we weren’t exactly firing on all cylinders first half. It should do wonders for the team’s psyche.

I think today also showed a much more professional, less emotional and calm Arsenal compared to what we have seen previously. This should put us in good stead for later on in the season when the pressure get magnified.

Mirth

It's a pretty significant win - as last season showed, you can be exceptional against 18 other teams in the league but if you lose both head to head games then you have a mountain to climb when it comes to the title.

Also it breaks an unnecessary record so that's always helpful.

Clrnc

Significant win because we really didn't play well at all but got all 3 points. Also cleared the mental block.

In terms of our title ambitions this confirms we are title contenders. Last year we lost the league thanks to h2h 2 losses so if we are consistent this year we might look back at this moment for years

RocktheCasbah

Clrnc Significant win because we really didn't play well at all but got all 3 points

Disagree with this. Yes, the attacking performance wasn't quite there, but football is about defending as much as it is attacking and in that part of the game, we were absolutely magnificent. City were completely neutered. The last time we did that to them, Kevin Keegan was probably their manager*

George Graham must have been so proud of us last night.

*Okay, that last bit may not be 100% correct - I'm exaggerating for comedic effect.

IBL

We have to follow it up now with wins against teams we're expected to beat otherwise it will be an opportunity lost.

Burnwinter

Massive win on a pure points basis. Would be bigger still if we hadn't already pissed away four points versus Fulham and Spurs so I'm hoping we keep sharp.

Sicario2 - Tier 1

Burnwinter

Spurs result I can live with. Even in our invincibles season we drew with them, NLD’s are hard. Fulham I can’t accept but yesterday made up for it a little.

Need to go on a proper run now. We got Chelsea and Newcastle away in 2 out of our next 3 games but other than that we play shit teams till 2nd week of Dec.

Qwiss

Sicario2 - Tier 1 Chelsea are rubbish, anything less than a win there is a poor result. I'd take a draw in St. James Park but a win would be another real marker if we can do it.

JazzG

Another thing I should add is winning the match is the easy part, how it changes our mentality going forward is the crucial thing and the hard part. In the past we have shown too much complacency and that has to change. We got a clean sheet at home and apart from the first 5 mins didn't really give City much of a sniff. It is important we show that same intensity and focus in all our games going forward.

This win is far too early on in the season to have any real meaning for the Title race. We are playing with CL football pressure as well so things will be tough in the next few months so we need to stay focussed and resolute.

awooga83

Individual result wise, it's important for the psychology of the team to know they can beat city and pierce that sense of invincibility they've had over us in the league.

Beyond that while it's a big win, last season that was the primary difference so this looks like an incremental improvement the test is how much of the results last year can we replicate. We need to beat Chelsea, Liverpool and avoid the Fulham type results otherwise we will have just exchanged where we dropped points and that will only really understand through the course of the season.

We don't want the achieve a big result that we don't anticipate then drop points in games we should win and overdo the individual significance. It's a great moment but the next game your don't get credit for that you have to earn the next result all the same.

flobaba

The points we have dropped so far have been due to silly team or individual mistakes. Avoidable. We also are still geling or to use an Artetaism: gliding, with a new, constantly changing midfield.

The question can we beat City has been answered though, and that will instil confidence not just against the big teams, but help further reinforce that control ball works. The players will be even more committed to the vision now and will try to execute similarly against the "smaller" teams.

I think it was an extremely important win. I was so pissed off in the Xhaka game against them in January 2022? Where we could have won until he single handedly lost us the game - I think he conceded a penalty or some dumb Xhaka shit. Our learning curve would have been accelerated significantly if we had pulled it off back then because the belief would have been there, and who knows how that might have influenced how last season panned out.

Burnwinter

That's true flobaba—we've been looking competitive in this fixture for two years now, and it's very important to win it.

For starters it's three points we've got that City don't. I don't know about taking durable courage and motivation from the result, but it's an encouraging start to the season if we're ahead of our robotic rivals in mid October—and could be very different.

QuincyAbeyie

Burnwinter