Arsenal finally ended their streak of poor away performances against top teams as Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud scored in each half on Sunday for a 2-0 victory at Etihad Stadium.
Cazorla converted a penalty in the 24th minute and Giroud headed in the second in the 66th as Arsenal ended second-place City's 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
City dominated possession but Arsenal for once showed the kind of defensive fortitude that so often has been missing in big away games in recent seasons. Arsenal lost 6-3 at City last season, to go with a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea and 5-1 defeat at Liverpool.
Arsenal climbed above Tottenham into fifth place, one point behind Manchester United.