Man City player ratings gallery - One player scores 8/10 but one 4/10 in 3-1 win over Arsenal

Manchester City moved up to first in the Premier League on Wednesday as they beat Arsenal in a huge top-of-the-table clash.

A 3-1 win at the Emirates means the champions overtake Arsenal, who still have a game in hand, with goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish and Erling Haaland proving decisive.

It was the hosts who created most of the early shooting opportunities, with Eddie Nketiah seeing two shots blocked and a header flash narrowly wide.

But after 24 minutes it was City who took the lead. De Bruyne anticipated Takehiro Tomiyasu’s underhit pass back to Aaron Ramsdale, got to the ball before the Arsenal keeper and from outside the area arced it over his head and into the back of the net.

Tomiyasu also fired over soon after, before Arsenal were awarded a penalty after 40 minutes. Nketiah was sent sprawling in the box by Ederson as he came out to block the attacker’s shot. As all eyes followed the path of the ball, which was cleared by Nathan Ake, referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot. Bakayo Saka stepped up and confidently stroked it home to level proceedings.

City ended the first half by hitting the crossbar in injury-time when Rodri’s header from a free-kick bounced down and crashed up to hit the woodwork, bringing a pulsating first 45 minutes to a close.

The second period began with Haaland being awarded and denied a penalty by VAR, with the no.9 in an offside position in the build-up. But it took the 68th minute for a decent scoring opportunity to present itself, as Rodri’s header was saved by Ramsdale and Manuel Akanji’s follow-up was cleared off the line by Jorginho.

Haaland then had a shot held by Ramsdale before City grabbed a second. The Blues made the most of a quick transition, with Haaland feeding Ilkay Gundogan, who swept the ball out to Grealish. The former Aston Villa man took his shot first time and curled it past Ramsdale.

In a second 45 which was short on chances, Haaland took a late opportunity as the ball dropped to him in the area. The striker took a touch to steady himself before smashing an effort with his right foot into the bottom corner.

Arsenal had late chances via Nketiah and Leandro Trossard, but neither tested Ederson in a low-key end to the match. Here’s how we rated the City players...