One down, two to go in the battle between the Premier League's two best sides and old pals Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal may hold a five-point lead over Guardiola's Manchester City at the top of the Premier League, but it was the reigning champions who won this first bout, ahead of their league meeting in less than three weeks. The two sides meet twice in the league in the second half of the season and Guardiola will be hoping this defeat will knock Arteta and his Arsenal players out of their stride as the pressure mounts in the title race.
The challenge now facing Arteta is to ensure this setback is not allowed to impact on Arsenal's push for a first league title in two decades, with City ready to pounce should they falter. What impact this result will have on Arsenal remains to be seen, but City showed their enduring class to dump the Gunners out of the competition, leaving them to focus on the league and Europa League.
