It had to end some time, and Manchester City’s startling 100 per cent start to the season, and league leadership, perished at the Emirates stadium yesterday, when Cesc Fabregas became the first player to put a goal past Kasper Schmeichel, who had earlier saved a Robin van Persie penalty.

Sven-Göran Eriksson’s early pacemakers are replaced at the top of the table by Chelsea, the old order re-establishing itself with August still not out. City weren’t bad, but Arsenal were better, and were in no way flattered by a result that extends their own unbeaten start, with seven points from a possible nine. Although impressed, Arsène Wenger says it will take 15 games to assess City’s progress properly. Chelsea away on October 27 looks like the acid test.

For the first 80 minutes, until Fabregas scored at close range, it was Groundhog Day for the Arsenal fans. Last season their team played lovely football, but failed to take maximum advantage because of shortcomings in front of goal, and again here their finishing left much to be desired. City will console themselves they were competitive throughout against top-class opposition, not the case last season. It will be instructive to see how they react to this first setback.

Of the 16 players selected by Wenger, including substitutes, not one was qualified to play for England. Eriksson, having made eight signings from the Continent during the summer, at least had two Englishmen in his starting lineup – three if Schmeichel should elect to represent the country of his birth.

Not enough good young English boys coming through? England’s Under17s may beg to differ, after their victory over Brazil on Friday.

There has been much talk of City’s spirit of adventure under new management, but pragmatism was the order of the day here, with Geovanni, the match-winner in the Manchester derby, and Rolando Bianchi both on the bench, and Emile Mpenza on his own up front. Another clean sheet was always the clear priority.

Arsenal were forced to make a late change when Philippe Senderos turned an ankle during the prematch warm-up, necessitating the promotion of Gilberto from the bench. Senderos had been deputising for William Gallas, out with groin trouble, so Arsenal were doubly disadvantaged at the back. Make that trebly. In the opening minutes Bacary Sagna collided with Mathieu Flamini and hurt his back.

He tried to soldier on, but had to be replaced after 19 minutes, when Flamini moved to right-back, facilitating Denilson’s introduction in midfield.

City were cohesive and purposeful at the outset, with Mpenza and Martin Petrov, on two occasions, only narrowly off target. However, after an even-steven first half-an-hour, Arsenal started to assert themselves, and Micah Richards added to his burgeoning reputation, notably with a top-notch tackle inside the penalty area to dispossess Van Persie. Ditto the young man’s partner-cum-mentor, Richard Dunne, in identical circumstances.

In the 37th minute Van Persie should probably have scored when Fabregas supplied Emmanuel Adebayor, whose cross from near the byline on the right evaded Schmeichel. The Dutchman needed only to touch the ball in at the far post but, sliding in, failed to reach it. The same thing happened when Van Persie crossed from the right and with City, and left-back Javier Garrido in particular, under mounting pressure, Schmeichel resembled a cat on a hot tin roof, rather than his celebrated father.

Eriksson’s instructions at half-time were to get the ball to Petrov on the left flank, to profit from Arsenal’s lack of a specialist right-back. Consequently the Bulgarian was much more in evidence, with a series of crosses and a shot narrowly wide across goal. At the other end, Dunne shut out Tomas Rosicky in the act of shooting. Mpenza, played through by Elano, seemed certain to score just after the hour, but was denied by Manuel Almunia’s well-timed advance from his line.

Schmeichel’s heroic moment came midway through the second half, when Richards brought down Aleksandr Hleb in the inside-right channel. The referee waved away Arsenal’s penalty appeals, but was put right by his assistant, who correctly identified the England defender had taken out Hleb’s legs, rather than the ball. Van Persie stepped up to take the kick, and was thwarted by Schmeichel’s save, low to his left.

Reprieved, Eriksson made a double substitution in an attempt to extend City’s record, sending on Geovanni and Bianchi with 15 minutes left. But it was Arsenal who came up with the winner, Hleb’s short pass setting up Fabregas, who drove the ball high past Schmeichel, right to left, from the edge of the six-yard box. Cue gleeful cries of “Top of the league? You’re having a laugh”, and ecstatic applause as Rosicky tested Schmeichel with another sweetly struck drive.

Player ratings: Arsenal: Almunia 6, Sagna 6 (Denilson 19min, 6), Toure 6, Gilberto 7, Clichy 6, Hleb 7, Fabregas 8, Flamini 6, Rosicky 7, Van Persie 7 (Song Billong 87min), Adebayor 6 (Eduardo 75min)

Man City: Schmeichel 7, Corluka 6, Dunne 8, Richards 7, Garrido 5, Hamann 6, Johnson 7, Ireland 6 (Ball 87min), Elano 7 (Geovanni 75min), Petrov 7, Mpenza 6 (Bianchi 75min)

Star man: Richard Dunne (Manchester City)