Arsenal landed the first major blow in this season's title fight with a 1-0 win over Manchester City, which suggests Mikel Arteta's side are capable of going one better than last term's second-place finish.
Half-time substitute Gabriel Martinelli's late strike, which took a huge deflection off Nathan Ake, earned Arsenal a first Premier League win over City since 2015 and should give Arteta's young squad belief that they are capable of dethroning the champions.
Arsenal celebrated their win over City in the Community Shield like a statement result but in truth this was always going to be a much more revealing test of whether the balance of power could shift away from Pep Guardiola's serial winners.
In finally beating Guardiola's City, and condemning them to back-to-back League defeats for the first time in nearly five years, Arsenal have sent a message to their title rivals and earned what should be an enormous psychological boost.
It was a victory which promises to kickstart their season and give Arteta's side momentum to push-on after the international break.
HUGE GOAL FOR ARSENAL! 🔥
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2023
Martinelli's deflected effort gives Arsenal late lead ✅ pic.twitter.com/clU60QH4Sy
Their late win was all the more impressive for coming without Bukayo Saka, who was not fit enough for the squad, bringing to an end his run of 87 consecutive Premier League appearances at arguably the worst possible time for Arteta.
Though Arsenal were short of a cutting edge without the England international, they found a way to win without him, as great sides often do, as Martinelli returned from injury to come off the bench at half-time to score the winner.
Given the questions about Arsenal's depth, particularly compared to City, it would have been particularly pleasing for Arteta that all four of his subs combined for the goal, with Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu involved in the build-up before Kai Havertz's lay-off to Martinelli.
And Arteta will feel that it might have been more comfortable for his side had Mateo Kovacic been sent off in the first half.
The midfielder was booked for a studs-up lunge on Martin Odegaard, which was checked by the VAR for serious foul play, and then somehow avoided a second yellow card for another slide tackle on Declan Rice.
City were missing big players of their own in Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, suspended and injured respectively, and ultimately felt their key absences more keenly than the hosts.
De Bruyne menaced Arsenal in both games last season, opening the scoring in their win at the Emirates and bagging a brace in the 4-1 demolition in Manchester.
With Jorginho and Rice screening the defence, however, City struggled to find a way through Arsenal and Erling Haaland, who also scored in both games last term, spent a frustrating evening feeding off scraps. David Raya, though shaky, did not have a serious save to make.
For the second game running, after last weekend's 2-1 loss at Wolves, City also looked far more open without Rodri in the middle, and the Spaniard still has one more game of his ban to serve - at home to Brighton after the international break.
Suddenly, City look fallible and Arsenal - as well as Liverpool and perhaps Tottenham and Newcastle - can take heart from the fact that City are not yet as imperious as they were for most of last year.
Guardiola can reasonably argue that his side normally hit their stride in the second half of the campaign but Arsenal now have a landmark win over their rivals in the bag, which may have a huge bearing on where the title ends up.
