Before what was a significant victory, Pep Guardiola revealed that he calls Arsene Wenger “the commander in chief” and it is not hard to imagine why.

Guardiola was playing for Barcelona under Bobby Robson when Wenger took over at Arsenal and, watching from Catalonia, he would have admired the way be got a nation that always thought of football in terms of fight and slogging through January mud interested in the fine detail of its tactics.

Later, when Guardiola was taking those tactics to ever more rarefied levels at the Nou Camp, he would have admired Wenger’s refusal to change tack, his stubborn determination to back the football he believed in. It would not have sustained him in Spain – Robson was sacked in 1997 after a season that saw Barcelona win three trophies but not, crucially, La Liga – but it was enough for Arsenal.

But when, in the same press conference, Guardiola remarked that he would never change his way of playing football merely to appease his critics, they were sentiments Wenger would have agreed with. It is, of course, far too late for Wenger to change, which is why the journey back to London would have carried with it such disillusion for Arsenal’s supporters.

As he assesses a week which saw Arsenal lead at first Everton and then Manchester City before losing both matches, Wenger could point to the marginal decisions that cost him points.

The corner that produced Ashley Williams’s winner at Goodison should not have been given. Leroy Sané was a few inches offside when he ran through to convert David Silva’s gorgeous through ball.

Just after the ball struck the back of Petr Cech’s net, ensuring the goalkeeper had failed to keep a clean sheet in eight consecutive matches for the first time in his career, Field Commander Wenger, wrapped in a dove-grey jacket, turned to make some familiar, futile protests to the fourth official.

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

There were echoes of Goodison in the way Arsenal lost a game in which they were ahead. Everton had outfought them and, as the old stadium grew ever louder, ever more raucous, it felt as if Arsenal were being bullied. After Sané’s equaliser, as Cech was tested ever more to his limits, you wondered if Mesut Özil was even on the field.

There was a time, which lingered after Wenger’s accession at Highbury, when ‘one-nil to the Arsenal’ was a boast that what was theirs would not be given up. Now it is just a scoreline; a flimsy, temporary statement.

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A second half that spun increasingly out of control saw Arsenal fail to offer a single shot on target. When Hector Bellerin sent a wild effort from distance into the crowd, Wenger turned to his bench and flapped his arms in what has become, over the years a familiar gesture.

Even before the interval, there were signs they would crack. Laurent Koscielny, at full stretch prevented a wayward ball from Nacho Monreal dropping straight to the tips of Raheem Sterling’s boots. A clearance that rebounded from Bellerin’s forehead had to be acrobatically saved by Cech.

Özil's performance summed up Arsenal's second-half capitulation (Getty)

And yet this was a game that Arsenal might have fancied themselves to win. Manchester City, without Sergio Aguero, did not field a recognised striker. Fernandinho, whom Guardiola might have expected to shield a very questionable defence from the speed of Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott, was also suspended.

The way they combined for the evening’s opening goal, the way Sanchez’s pass split the Argentine pairing of Nicolas Otamendi and Pablo Zabaleta, suggested Manchester City would be picked off in the way first Chelsea and then Leicester had overcome them.

Even Guardiola will have been impressed with the move that saw Walcott score (Getty)