Arsenal great Thierry Henry praised the performance of Santi Cazorla after the Spain midfielder starred in the Gunners' 2-0 win away to Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.

Cazorla gave Arsenal the lead with a 24th-minute penalty and provided the free-kick from which Olivier Giroud headed the visitors into a 2-0 lead midway through the second half.

But it was the way in which Cazorla ran Arsenal's midfield throughout the match at the Etihad Stadium that caught the eye of Henry, who was making his debut as a pundit for Sky Sports television.

"What a game Santi Cazorla had today," Henry said.

"I said before the game that people mention (Alexis) Sanchez, don't forget about Cazorla when he plays in the middle," added Henry, Arsenal's all-time leading goalscorer.

"You can see what he can do and what he has done today... Amazing," said the former France forward.

"Even the way he talked at the end. He just said to everybody straight away, 'that's how we have to play next game', and that speaks volumes of the spirit of the guy.

"He controlled that midfield. To come and play the way he played here at the Etihad is just outstanding."

Henry also highlighted the way Arsenal, often criticised for a surfeit of 'meaningless' possession, were happy to let City have the ball in unthreatening areas of the pitch while the Gunners' sometimes suspect defence kept things tight at the back.

"Today they defended well as a unit and they were brilliant at the end of the day," he said.

"It does not matter if you have the ball or you do not have the ball -- they didn't today most of the time basically -- but the 34 percent they had in the game was enough to win the game."