Manchester City moved two points behind Premier League leaders with a dominant 4-1 victory at the Etihad on Wednesday evening.
Riyad Mahrez was amongst the substitutes for City despite his hat-trick over the weekend, while Granit Xhaka was the Gunners' sole change from their 3-3 draw against Southampton.
It was a determined start for the host and unsurprisingly took the lead after Erling Haaland held up possession from way out and set-up Kevin De Bruyne to race clear and find the bottom corner.
The slick passing from the reigning champions kept the Gunners on the back-foot thereafter and ultimately saw the host apply great momentum on the attack.
Arsenal continued to chase shadows as the match entered the half-hour mark and were nearly two goals down when Haaland drifted in the area and cutback before seeing his shot saved by Aaron Ramsdale.
Haaland conjured up another scare for the Gunners a little later where he charged in left of the area and drew a sharp stop off Ramsdale with a strong first-time shot.
City found a second goal on the stroke of halftime as John Stones leaped at the far post to nod into the far corner, with the goal approved by Video Assistant Referee (VAR) after it was initially disallowed for offside.
With no substitutions before the resumption, City added a third goal shortly after the break when Haaland broke through the defensive line and set-up De Bruyne to slot into the bottom corner.
Arsenal looked to the bench to inspire a lifeline over 60 minutes in and brought Jorginho in for Xhaka before Gabriel Martinelli vacated to take the spot of Leandro Trossard.
The Gunners began to have a lot of the possession around the closing stages, but failed to pose a threat to the host and created no decent chances.
However, with four minutes to play the visitors found a consolation as Rob Holding found space in the area and turned home Trossard's pass.
The effort didn't inspire the Gunners to a late comeback as the Citizens were able to grab a fourth goal via the boot of Haaland, who rounded off the scoring in second-half stoppage time.
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