Arsenal end Brighton’s unbeaten run to set up an early Premier League title clash.
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton: Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz earned the hosts victory as Roberto de Zerbi’s side failed to score in the Premier Leauge for the first time in 33 games
Let’s go to Liverpool. If Arsenal’s return to the top of the Premier League table felt like a statement before Jurgen Klopp’s side faced Manchester United in the weekend’s final fixture, it also sends a message ahead of what is shaping up to be one of the season’s defining clashes on the Saturday before Christmas. As Manchester City departs for the Club World Cup in the midst of their worst run in years under Pep Guardiola, there is a clear top two in the Premier League table: they meet next weekend at Anfield.
Following last weekend’s defeat at Aston Villa, who may believe they should be in the mix after a late win at Brentford, Mikel Arteta’s side needed to get back on track. They did it against a Brighton squad whose Premier League woes continued despite reaching new heights in Europe in midweek. Arsenal had practically all of the chances and almost all of the shots against Roberto de Zerbi’s visitors, as Brighton failed to score for the first time in 33 Premier League games.
It meant that Arsenal only needed an unmarked header from Gabriel Jesus at the back post and a late finish from Kai Havertz to go top. When Brighton defender Jan Paul van Hecke flicked on, the Brazilian stooped to nod into an empty net after 53 minutes, before Havertz sealed the points by racing free and scoring under keeper Bart Verbruggen. The German’s fourth goal in seven games came seconds after Brighton finally came alive, with Pascal Gross putting a brilliant dribble from Kaoru Mitoma beyond of the near post.
However, this should have seemed more like a competition. Brighton had won their previous three visits to the Emirates, including a 3-0 victory in May, and should have brought enough of a counter-attacking threat and pressing ability to cause problems for the Gunners. However, the hosts were dominant, with Declan Rice and William Saliba’s force and authority restricting Brighton’s ability to move from defence to attack. Instead, it was one-way traffic from the outset, with Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, and Gabriel Martinelli tightly controlling Brighton.
However, Jesus and Havertz were the match-winners as Arsenal finally found the clinical edge that eluded them last weekend at Villa Park. Brighton never looked like scoring until it was too late, and the visitors never looked like keeping a clean sheet for the first time in 21 Premier League outings. De Zerbi’s team may have advanced to the Europa League last-16 in what is the club’s maiden European campaign, but it has come at a cost: only one win in the six Premier League games that have closely followed European competition.
If there was one specific encounter that summed up Brighton’s lack of enthusiasm, it would be Saka’s clash with the 37-year-old Milner; the sprightly winger versus the weathered veteran, summoned for a task he, in all honesty, was no longer ready for. Saka, of course, had Milner beat as he sprinted and scurried to the byline throughout the first half. Arsenal forced Brighton to retreat and had the visitors trapped inside their penalty area, with their play almost entirely centred on a series of short, delicate exchanges between Saka, Odegaard, and Rice on the penalty corner.
However, the breakthrough eluded them, and the frustration peaked when Arteta received his fourth booking of the season near the half-hour mark. Arsenal predicted more of the same after being punished for their wastefulness at Villa Park last Saturday. Following a superb ball from Odegaard with the outside of his foot, which looped around the backtracking Milner and released Saka, Martinelli missed the greatest of the first-half chances. Brighton survived when Martinelli flew over from Saka’s cutback, and Arsenal were denied again when Van Hecke saved Kai Havertz’s close-range attempt.
Arsenal end Brighton’s unbeaten run to set up an early Premier League title clash.
Arsenal were in command, while Brighton were hanging on for dear life: literally in Milner’s case, as he escaped a booking for an early lunge on Saka that was far too late. De Zerbi’s team had no shots in the first half and were the authors of their own demise in the second, playing themselves into difficulty when Rice cut out keeper Verbruggen’s risky pass out from the back. Odegaard was denied in the box, but Saka’s inswinging delivery was touched on by Van Hecke, and Jesus stooped at the back post to head into the empty net.
Brighton would ultimately improve, but the last visiting team to win at the Emirates never looked like replicating the feat, while Arsenal extended their home unbeaten streak to 13 games. Brighton pushed on after falling down, and Arsenal had chances to seal the game when Havertz headed over Martinelli’s cross and Rice saw a shot saved by Verbruggen after a galloping run forward. The Seagulls were still alive, and Mitoma’s sprint around the outside of Ben White set up a rare opportunity for Gross to grab a point. But the German shot wide, and the Gunners now travel to Anfield for an early title duel.
