Man City's Mikel Arteta 'respectful' as Chelsea win shows Arsenal are title contenders

Mikel Arteta said he was "very respectful" of Manchester City's dominance in the Premier League when asked about Arsenal's title aspirations.

The Gunners won against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon thanks to a goal from defender Gabriel Magalhaes.

The victory put Arteta's team back at the top of the league at the expense of Manchester City.

City also won by just one goal at the weekend, beating Fulham with a 95th-minute Erling Haaland penalty.

Arsenal are on fire this season, with their win at Stamford Bridge making it 11 out of 13 in the Premier League.

The defeat leaves Chelsea seventh in the league after Graham Potter suffered his first home defeat since replacing Thomas Tuchel.

“Big win for us,” Arteta said. "Coming here against a top opponent, dominating the game and winning it is very meaningful.

"We are a young team, but we showed a lot of maturity today, a lot of composure, a lot of courage to play on this stage as we did.

"It's easy to say but actually very hard to do. I think the boys were absolutely phenomenal today."

When asked if his side should respond to City's latest win over Fulham, Arteta told BT Sport: "Obviously we wanted to come back and be at the top, but the competition is so tough in this league. .

"The challenge for us was to get to this stage against one of the best teams in the league and play and play like we did today and deserve to win the game, and boys l did.

"Just look at what City have done over the past six years with the best manager in the world, they have shown remarkable consistency. We have to be very respectful of that."

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Asked what impressed him the most, Arteta added: "For such a young team, the maturity they showed, the composure they showed. The resilience and courage, I say, to play the way we wanted to, that was phenomenal.

"It's easy to say before the game, but actually doing it on the pitch against this opponent and these kind of players is another story."

Bukayo Saka played after limping against Nottingham Forest last week.

He was booked for a solid tackle on Marc Cucurella, who escaped with a flagrant foul on the England winger seconds before.

Arteta was very lively on the touchline during some of Saka's challenges this afternoon and joked after the game that he was "really calm".

On Saka's treatment, the Arsenal boss said: "You saw me on that touchline. I was really calm the whole time…”

Asked about the difference between Sunday's win and his team's only loss of the season at Manchester United, Arteta replied: "We lacked discipline that day."

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