Gabriel Martinelli Photo: Photosport
Gabriel Martinelli's last-gasp equaliser gave Arsenal a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester City in the English Premier League, cancelling out Erling Haaland's early goal to give the Gunners a barely-deserved point.
City scored from a rapid counter in the ninth minute, Tijjani Reijnders breaking from deep with Haaland on his shoulder before he played the Norwegian striker in to finish coolly past David Raya.
Arsenal looked short on ideas before a double change at halftime gave them more impetus, substitute Eberechi Eze forcing a sharp save from Gianluigi Donnarumma as the hosts swarmed all over an uncharacteristically defensive City.
The visitors recorded 32.8 percent possession, the lowest-ever possession average by a Pep Guardiola team in his 601st top-flight league match, according to Opta.
City had seemed to have weathered the storm, though, finishing the game with five at the back as Arsenal probed without creating the killer opening they needed.
But substitute Martinelli - who delivered a goal and an assist off the bench against Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday - ran on to Eze's speculative ball over the top and produced a superb lob in the 93rd minute to give Arsenal a share of the spoils.
The draw puts Arsenal on 10 points from five games, five points behind Liverpool, while City move up to ninth with seven points.
The early-season meeting between the two rivals had a important feel, with Liverpool continuing their perfect start against Everton on Saturday despite looking nowhere near their best.
Arsenal controlled the opening exchanges until City took a lead they rarely looked likely to give away, even before Guardiola decided to protect what they had.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland. Photo: Photosport
City's opener came after a messy passage of play, with Haaland at the heart of it as his pass to Reijnders inside the City half started the move which ended with him slotting home his 13th goal in eight games for club and country this season.
The Gunners toiled for long periods and a largely tepid game seemed to be slipping away until Martinelli's moment of magic set up a frantic finish, though both sides had to settle for a point.
Villa end scoring drought
Aston Villa finally registered a Premier League goal at the fifth time of asking but a victory remained elusive as they could only draw 1-1 at 10-man Sunderland.
Unai Emery's side were the only team in the top seven divisions in England without a goal ahead of the clash and were hoping to avoid becoming the third team in top-flight history not to score in their first five games.
Matty Cash ended the drought to put his side ahead in the 67th minute with a swerving 25-metre effort.
But despite being a man down following Reinildo's red card in the 33rd minute, Sunderland created more chances than a lacklustre Villa and were only behind for eight minutes.
Arsenal's Spanish head coach Unai Emer. Photo: AFP
Granit Xhaka's headed pass found Wilson Isidor and he finished with his right foot.
Villa did threaten in the latter stages with Harvey Elliott missing a chance and Ollie Watkins an even better one when he failed to connect properly with Jadon Sancho's cross, but defeat would have been harsh on Sunderland.
Sunderland moved to seventh place with eight points while stuttering Villa climbed one spot to 18th with three, but are still in the bottom three.
Bournemouth-Newcastle stalemate
Newcastle United were held to a 0-0 draw at Bournemouth in a dull game of few chances as the visitors remain winless on the road.
Although Newcastle kept a third straight clean sheet on the road, it was also a third consecutive goalless draw that left Eddie Howe's side 13th in the standings with six points while Bournemouth moved provisionally up to third on 10.
Howe made several changes to his lineup in search of his first league win against his former side, but despite a lively start from both teams, the first half lost momentum with injury stoppages and ended with few clear chances.
Newcastle had a penalty appeal waved away when Nick Woltemade had his shirt tugged, and Justin Kluivert nearly won it for Bournemouth with a free kick in added time, only for Nick Pope make a fine save.
- Reuters
