Sterling strike sees Man City edge past Arsenal

Raheem Sterling scored the only goal of the game as Manchester City earned a 1-0 win over Arsenal at the Etihad on Saturday.

It was City's first clean sheet in the Premier League this season as they move up to 10th position in the table.

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City striker Sergio Aguero made his first start of the campaign while Thomas Partey came off the bench late on to make his Arsenal debut.

Riyad Mahrez almost opened the scoring inside the first minute but his long range-effort went narrowly wide.

City did take the lead after 23 minutes when Sterling reacted quickest to Bernd Leno's save from a Phil Foden shot.

There were chances for both sides to score after the goal but Ederson twice denied Bukayo Saka and Leno blocked Foden's close range effort.

Just before the break, Arsenal wanted a penalty after Kyle Walker's high foot on Gabriel but VAR decided against it.

City came close to scoring a second after the hour mark when David Luiz deflected Joao Cancelo's cross just wide.

Arsenal are now without a victory in their last 29 Premier League away games against 'Big Six' opponents since a 2-0 win at City in January 2015.

"They were a difficult team to break down, really well drilled and made it difficult for us," Sterling said after the game.

"In the end we deserved the win. We kept it tight and compact and deserved the win," said Sterling.