Arsenal's new era under Unai Emery started with defeat on Sunday as they lost 2-0 to Premier League champions Manchester City.

Goals from Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva secured all three points for the visitors, who were by far the better side.

Mistakes plagued Arsenal throughout the 90 minutes. Emery clearly told the players to play out from the back but they didn't look comfortable and gave away possession on numerous occasions.

Petr Cech was particularly culpable for misplacing passes and almost screwed the ball into his own net in the opening exchanges.

Luckily for the 36-year-old the ball went just past the post, giving away a corner instead of a second goal for City.

"When you play against a team of City’s quality and confidence it is always going to be difficult," said Cech. "Inevitably, you can make a few mistakes."

Cech made up for his mistake by making a number of smart saves to deny City, which saw Arsenal fans divert their frustration onto another player: Granit Xhaka.

XHAKA DISASTERCLASS

Xhaka only returned to training recently but was absolutely woeful at the Emirates Stadium. Time and time again he took too long to release the ball and was dispossessed.

So bad was the Swiss that the Mirror gave him a rating of 4/10, describing his performance as: "Gave the ball away in midfield and was sloppy. Can Emery uncover the player in there?"

What frustrated Arsenal fans most was that Emery started Xhaka ahead of the £27m summer signing Lucas Torreira, who was sat on the bench.

Torreira replaced Xhaka in the 70th and looked far more assured in front of the back four. As a result, Arsenal fans are now calling for Xhaka to be dropped from the starting XI once and for all.

It's hard to argue with them. Xhaka has shown glimpses of potential during his two years in north London but he just isn't good enough against the Premier League's best.

Next weekend Arsenal travel to Chelsea in another tough game, so fans will only hope that Emery selects Torreira over the struggling Swiss.