Arsenal 0 Brighton 3
It is surely over bar the shouting. There was plenty of that, in increasingly desperate measure from the Arsenal support but, with their team falling short, it feels safe to say that Manchester City are about to be crowned as the Premier League champions for the fifth time in six seasons.
Arsenal have given it a heck of a roll and it seems like a trick of the mind that many people did not think they would finish in the top four before the start of the campaign. But needing victory to keep alive their title hopes after City had won at Everton earlier in the day, they were brought to their knees by Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton, who gave a second-half masterclass and can scent European qualification for the first time in club history.
Julio Enciso, Brighton’s latest star in the making, scored the first on 51 minutes and when the substitute, Deniz Undav, lobbed home the second towards the end, it was the prompt for De Zerbi to tear along the line in celebration and thousands of Arsenal fans to head for the exits.
[ Premier League tableOpens in new window ]
Undav’s goal came after Leandro Trossard, on as a substitute for Arsenal to face his former club, had seen an attempted flick snuffed out by Pascal Gross as the home team tried to build from the goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale. The ball looped up and back for Undav, who was onside, and Arsenal were broken.
There would be eight additional minutes but no prospect of an Arsenal comeback. Instead, Brighton salted the wounds, Pervis Estupiñán scoring the third after Ramsdale had weakly parried an Undav shot. This time De Zerbi went for a knee slide on the pitch. A Champions League place will probably prove beyond Brighton, the Europa League more likely, but the finest season in their history just keeps on giving. For Arsenal, there was only frustration, the impression of wind departing from sails.
Arteta’s team had to put all thoughts of what had happened at Goodison Park out of their minds, although it was not easy. There had been some hope of City being upset because there is always hope; Everton had, after all, battered Brighton 5-1 at the Amex Stadium last Monday. City, however, are a different story and it was flat inside the Emirates at kick-off.
Arsenal wanted to stop Brighton from playing out from the back, to pinch the ball high up, and a good deal of the jeopardy came in Brighton’s first third when they were in possession, the game shaped by what they did or did not do with the ball. Arsenal forced errors from their opponents – and in dangerous areas, too – but Brighton stuck to their guns, some of their build-up play so easy on the eye; the reward always worth the risk, in the eyes of De Zerbi.
There was the moment in the early exchanges when the Brighton goalkeeper, Jason Steele, just about threaded a pass out to Gross, Arsenal so close to a crucial interception, before the midfielder released Enciso with a long ball up the left. Tracked by Gabriel Magalhães, Enciso cut inside and forced Ramsdale to tip behind.
Arteta was forced into an early change when Gabriel Martinelli limped off, unable to continue after a reprisal tackle from Moisés Caicedo, in which the stand-in Brighton right back somehow escaped a yellow card. Martinelli had cleaned out Kaoru Mitoma in an aerial challenge, having checked his opponent’s position – it looked like a cheap shot – and Caicedo would lunge into him, Martinelli twisting awkwardly as he went down.
On came Trossard, who left Brighton for Arsenal in January; he was booed by the visiting fans. There was niggle, the challenges sometimes heavy, and there was a lot of pressure on the officials.
Arsenal had the bulk of the chances before the interval, with Trossard grazing the top of the crossbar after slicing inside Caicedo. Bukayo Saka dragged just wide on the stroke of half-time after Gabriel Jesus had thrashed in a low cross and, among other flickers, Arsenal could point to Jesus working Steele at the near post. For Brighton, there was a Mitoma move on Ben White in the 37th minute and a driven cross, which led to a spin and shot from Enciso that flew high.
Brighton shimmered with menace and they broke through after Mitoma got to a long ball ahead of White and ushered in Estupiñán on the overlap. His first cross was headed back to him by Kieran Tierney and when he tried again, close to the byline on the left, banging the ball into the ground and watching it rear up, there was Enciso to glance home. Enciso was all alone in front of goal because his marker, Jakub Kiwior, had felt a stamp from Evan Ferguson and gone to ground.
Arteta made changes, introducing Thomas Partey and Reiss Nelson, moving Trossard inside from the left; Emile Smith Rowe and Eddie Ntekiah would also enter. It became extremely angsty for Arsenal, every whistle against them provoking uproar, testing Arteta’s patience.
Brighton continued to trust their possession game, the outstanding Alexis Mac Allister pulling the strings. Mitoma tormented White while it was difficult to believe that Enciso is only 19. His assurance was startling. Nelson banged just wide and Trossard shot straight at Steele but it was Brighton who would lengthen their stride. – Guardian
