Pep Guardiola saluted one of Manchester City's biggest wins of the season as they inflicted Arsenal's first home defeat of the campaign to dislodge them at the top of the table.
Arsenal have led the Premier League for 175 days so far and the last 101, but must now sleep in second place after the Blues withstood a storm at the Emirates to claim a 3-1 win that lifts them back into top spot for the first time since October. Mikel Arteta's side still have a game in hand, but the momentum is firmly with the reigning champions.
City beat a weakened Arsenal team in the FA Cup back in January and while the Gunners have not dipped too much in performance they have taken just one point from a possible nine in their subsequent three league games. Their results against Everton and Brentford opened the door for a City side that have lacked consistency all season to shine on the big occasion.
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Guardiola still expects an almighty challenge from Arsenal, who still have a game in hand and pushed the Blues hard. However, he reflected on the fact that City have gone from a position where their title challenge could have been over to being top of the league in just a few weeks.
"We won in the Emirates against Arsenal, who made 50 points in one leg," said Guardiola. "I saw the game against Everton and Brentford and they were much better. You can lose in football but they were much better. The quality is there, the impact of how they play, the opponents have to adapt to what they are doing.
"They still have one game so I consider they are top of the league, there are many games to play with Champions League and Europa League playing, it will be difficult for everyone. But what is important is we could have come here a few weeks ago maybe eight or nine points behind so losing here it would be almost over, and now for the fact that we dropped points we came here for the chance to be close, we won the game and we are there."
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