Manchester City continued their so-far unstoppable stride towards the Premier League title with a hard-fought, counter-attacking display against Arsenal.

Kevin De Bruyne opened the scoring in the first half before Sergio Aguero doubled the lead from the spot.

Alexandre Lacazette pulled one back but Gabriel Jesus’ controversial strike proved too much for Arsenal on the day.

Here are five we learned from the Etihad…

No trust in Lacazette

In what is arguably Arsenal’s biggest game of the season so far, given their chance to make a statement against a big side amidst their troubles, Arsene Wenger made the decision to drop Lacazette, his record signing, for Alex Iwobi. It’s a peculiar decision given that City’s biggest weakness is their defence.

It also sends out a message to the Frenchman that, despite the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil leaving in the summer and not committed to the club, Wenger is not willing to build a team around him. The decision looked even more ridiculous when Lacazette eventually did enter the fray and smash the ball through Ederson’s legs to pull a goal back.

Lacazette was dropped but scored when he came off the bench (Getty)

Sanchez fails audition

You need only scroll through Sanchez’s Twitter mentions to see what Arsenal fans thought about his performance against the side he hoped he would be joining last summer – they were not impressed. Playing as the lone front man, he gave the ball away on too many occasions and was guilty of vacating the central area he was chosen to fill for much of the first half.

Sanchez wants a move to City in the summer (Getty)

Sanchez’s contract at the Emirates expires in the summer and he has his heart set on a reunion with former manager Pep Guardiola in Manchester, although on this performance, City don’t need him and he would be lacking the sort of playing time he needs at this point in his career. He may have just ended that City dream on one performance alone, although Guardiola knows what he is capable of.

Sterling and Sane run riot

Both Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane have forced their way to be must-starters in big games such as these and they did not disappoint – in the build up anyway. Arsenal, after switching to a back four, could not contain the two speedsters and often lost them as they dropped deep, cut inside, went wide or played on the last man at will.

Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Show all 23 1 /23 Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Manchester City vs Arsenal Who impressed as Pep Guardiola's side beat Unai Emery's at the Etihad Stadium? The Independent Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Ederson - 8 out of 10 Came off his line superbly to beat Aubameyang to the ball. Little he could do to prevent Koscielny’s equaliser. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Kyle Walker - 6 out of 10 An improvement on some recent performances. Comfortable when in a back three after playing the same role with England. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Nicolas Otamendi - 6 out of 10 A forceful presence at the back, sometimes too forceful. One robust first-half challenge on Lacazette went unnoticed. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Aymeric Laporte - 7 out of 10 Picks up a rare assist, crossing for Aguero’s first, then saw a goal disallowed for offside. Covered well for Sterling, who was alone on the left flank. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Fernandinho - 7 out of 10 Initially struggled to exert his usual control over the midfield in the first half, perhaps because he had to keep dropping back into defence, but improved. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Bernardo Silva - 7 out of 10 Out of position on the wing and less influential than he often is in a central role but still troubled Arsenal’s left side. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Ilkay Gundogan - 8 out of 10 Almost faultless when distributing the ball. A delicate chip over the top of the defence in the build-up to Aguero’s goal was his best. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings David Silva - 7 out of 10 Not masterful from Il Mago but an all-round improvement on his display at St James’ Park, sprinkled with the odd special touch or pass. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Kevin De Bruyne - 6 out of 10 Did not have his usual influence on the game. An off-day though hardly anything to be concerned about. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Raheem Sterling - 8 out of 10 Created two of Aguero’s three, ghosting superbly behind Lichtsteiner for the second. Asked to cover the entire left flank but did not look out of place. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Sergio Aguero - 9 out of 10 Header, right foot, left arm. An unconventional hat-trick but his 14th in City colours. The wrong side of 30 now but his predatory instincts have not waned. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Bernd Leno - 6 out of 10 Dives too early and the wrong way for Aguero’s first but denied City impressively on several occasions after it. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Stephan Lichtsteiner - 5 out of 10 Caught out by Sterling’s intelligent movement, particularly on City’s second. Arsenal’s third-choice at right back and it showed. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Shkodran Mustafi - 6 out of 10 Equalises from Torreira corner, Monreal flick-on, but culpable for letting Aguero go at the far post for City’s crucial second. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Laurent Koscielny - 5 out of 10 Five yards behind the rest of the Arsenal defence for Aguero’s first, playing every City player onside, though perhaps did not anticipate Iwobi’s error. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Nacho Monreal - 7 out of 10 Neat near-post flick-on for Koscielny’s equaliser. Coped well enough with Bernardo despite being given little support. Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Alex Iwobi - 5 out of 10 Dispossessed deep in his own half by Laporte. Attempted to make up for his mistake and was tidy enough, though did little to atone. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Lucas Torreira - 8 out of 10 Made several key interceptions and tackles, especially as momentum shifted towards Arsenal in the first half. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Matteo Guendouzi - 7 out of 10 Poor start but did not hide and grew into the game as it went on. Largely shut down City’s midfield with Torreira until the game got away from Arsenal. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Sead Kolasinac - 6 out of 10 Stationed at left midfield but perhaps too adventurous for his full-back’s liking, with Monreal left one-on-one with Bernardo too often. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Alexandre Lacazette - 6 out of 10 Him and Aubameyang were sat strangely deep, bulking up Arsenal’s midfield, and this affected his ability to get forward. Getty Manchester City vs Arsenal player ratings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - 6 out of 10 As with Lacazette, often too deep to threaten, though a little brighter than his partner and Arsenal’s main threat on the counter-attack. Getty

The only criticism of the pair would be their end product on the day, particularly Sterling’s, with the Englishman producing a terrible pass to Sane when they were through on goal to throw the chance away. Guardiola couldn’t contain his frustrations on the sidelines but in reality he has two of the most dangerous wide-men in the Premier League at his disposal and their lightning speed will terrify teams.

Ederson is City’s quiet hero

Amongst the abundance of attacking talent, the free-flowing football, the pace of Sane and Sterling and the genius of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva, the one thing that often gets overlooked is the contribution of goalkeeper Ederson. He is marshalling a still susceptible defence with ease and his contribution was acknowledged when he captained the side in midweek.

Ederson has been in fine form in the City goal (Getty)

He was not needed to be called on for much of the game on Sunday but when he was, on the stroke of half-time, he got down low expertly to palm away Aaron Ramsey’s close-range snap-shot. It’s those sort of moments which cost City points last season with Claudio Bravo between the sticks and he could turn out to be Guardiola’s best signing of the summer.

Who can stop City?

Guardiola played down his side’s chances of emulating Sunday’s opponents and going through the whole of the season but so far there hasn’t been any challengers who look capable of troubling City’s formidable attack. Are City’s biggest rivals their own ability to keep these performances consistently high? Possibly.