And so it happened that Arsenal refused to surrender their unbeaten run, five games into the season. It had appeared as if defending champions Manchester City would inflict the first defeat on the Gunners in a gritty encounter this evening at Etihad Stadium, but that was not to be.

Though Arsenal dominated possession in the first stanza of the game, they failed to translate it into goals, and were punished in the 39^th minute when Joleon Lescott handed City the driving seat after rising highest unchallenged to head home a David Silva corner.

All efforts by the Gunners to level scores in the second half proved abortive until the 83^rd minute when Koscielny whipped in the leveller after Lescott had failed to clear the ball off a corner kick.

Analysts say this was Arsenal’s first real test of the season and that they need to reproduce the fighting spirit they displayed today against other big teams to keep alive their boast of challenging for the title this season.

ALL THE WEEKEND RESULTS

Today

Manchester City 1 Arsenal 1

Liverpool 1 – 2 Man Utd

Newcastle 1 – 0 Norwich

Man City 1 – 0 Arsenal

Tottenham 2 – 1 QPR

Yesterday

Swansea 0 – 3 Everton

Chelsea1 – 0 Stoke

Southampton 4 – 1 Aston Villa

West Brom 1 – 0 Reading

West Ham 1 – 1 Sunderland

Wigan 1 – 2 Fulham

*Photo, courtesy Daily Mail, shows Arsenal's Carl Jenkinson (left) battles Manchester City’s Scott Sinclair for the ball.