2 weeks ago
37
A few minutes before half-time in a contest that swung entirely one way and then briefly the other, Brighton threatened what was then a rare foray into Arsenal territory. For the briefest of moments, the visitors seemed certain to muster their first shot of an afternoon that had hitherto been miserable.
No sooner had Maxim De Cuyper received the ball on the counterattack and glanced up, than the Belgian was flattened by a crunching Declan Rice tackle that hastily restored possession for the hosts. De Cuyper slumped, while Rice towered over him and roared; arguably this season’s standout Premier League midfielder making light of playing right-back for the first time in his Arsenal career.
If Arsenal are to win the Premier League this season – finally claiming the title after leading at Christmas for the third time in four seasons – a ceaseless succession of injuries would render it a feat of staggering performances.
Rice the right-back; Mikel Merino the striker; Christian Nørgaard the centre-back – all have been evident this season. If periods in the second half set Arsenal fans’ pulses racing at thoughts of a Brighton comeback, they would have possessed an abundance of absentee excuses if it had come to pass.
For all that their summer strengthening was largely targeted at boosting strength in depth, it is remarkable Arsenal continue to top the table. An injury to Jurrien Timber meant there was no recognised right-back available and a problem in the warmup prompted Riccardo Calafiori’s late exclusion at left-back, where he was replaced by Myles Lewis-Skelly. Such is the way Arsenal’s season has gone.
For much of the game, it was, nonetheless, a triumph of considerable ease. With Martin Ødegaard pulling the strings in the middle of the pitch, and Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka terrorising their hapless Brighton handlers, the winning margin should have been considerably greater.
The shot tally told a story: by half-time Arsenal had managed 15 to Brighton’s zero. At the conclusion it read a slightly more respectable 24-8 as Brighton extended their extraordinarily bad December record under Fabian Hürzeler to 11 successive winless matches, dating back to 2023.
Arsenal’s early opener came after the hosts had seized on a botched Brighton short goal-kick and capitalised with calm assurance. Saka fed Ødegaard and Arsenal’s captain produced a lovely finish, drilling into the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area for his first goal of an injury-troubled campaign.
Their second came via a familiar route soon after half-time. A whipped Rice corner caused Georginio Rutter to flick the ball into his own net for Arsenal to benefit from a fourth own-goal in their past three home games.
Things might have been considerably worse for Brighton, who were perhaps fortunate not to have Bart Verbruggen sent off for flattening Viktor Gyökeres after charging out of his area. The proximity of the touchline to the offence meant it was not deemed a goalscoring opportunity, with the goalkeeper shown a yellow card.
Having offered no attacking threat at all, Brighton unexpectedly pulled a goal back out of nothing just after the hour. Yasin Ayari’s low drive hit the far post, where Diego Gómez was on hand to hammer home the rebound.
Almost half of Arsenal’s matches in all competitions this season have been drawn or decided by a single goal and the hosts’ failure to kill off the game when in the ascendancy prompted ever-growing dread as the match wore on and Brighton grew in confidence.
David Raya pulled off a wonderful full-stretch save to deny a dangerous curled Yankuba Minteh shot and Mats Wieffer headed over from close range. But the habitually depleted Arsenal soon restored order. Victory was deserved.
