Manchester: Arsenal took advantage of an early sending off to beat Manchester City 3-0 Sunday and climb to second place in the Premier League.
Dedryck Boyata was given a red card for pulling down Marouane Chamakh in the fifth minute. Samir Nasri gave Arsenal the lead 15 minutes later after playing a 1-2 with Andrey Arshavin in the area. Joe Hart saved a penalty from Cesc Fabregas in the 41st but Alex Song and substitute Nicklas Bendtner added goals in the second half to secure the win.
Arsenal leapfrogged City in the standings. Both teams have 17 points from nine games but Arsenal is ahead on goal difference. City fell to fourth behind Manchester United, which also has 17 points. Chelsea leads with 22 points.
Carlos Tevez was back to lead the City line while Emmanuel Adebayor, despite a midweek hat trick, was left on the bench against his former club. And the hosts appeared in a rush to score as Boyata, starting instead of Joleon Lescott, released Tevez down the right in the first minute.
Tevez raced beyond the defence and into the area but David Silva failed to make firm contact with his ball into the middle and Lukasz Fabianski saved his scuffed shot.
Tevez then set Micah Richards free down the right but this time Bacary Sagna slid in to deal with the cross.
City looked dominant but Boyata, as the last man, was sent off for bringing down Marouane Chamakh as he raced onto Fabregas's pass. The tackles started to fly.
Denilson was booked for a late challenge on Tevez, Nigel de Jong felled Fabregas, Gareth Barry was shown a yellow card for fouling the Spaniard and Song escaped punishment for a bad tackle on Silva.
The opening goal came after 20 minutes as Nasri played a one-two with Andrey Arshavin on the edge of the box and clipped the ball over Joe Hart.
Fabregas was booked after tangling with De Jong.
Song and Djourou were also booked before Vincent Kompany was yellow-carded for lunging in on Fabregas just inside the area. Hart kept City in the game with a brilliant save from Fabregas' resulting penalty.
Song finished City off in the 66th when he grabbed an opportunistic second for the visitors. Wayne Bridge had blocked a Fabregas pass intended for Chamakh but the ball ran loose and Song smashed it into the top corner.
Substitute Adebayor raised City fans' spirits when he forced a fine save from goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski with a firm header but a flag had already been raised for offside.
There was a stoppage 15 minutes from time when an object appeared to be thrown from the crowd as Arsenal prepared to take a corner.
Substitute Bendtner put the result beyond any doubt five minutes before the end when he raced clear and finished from a tight angle.
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