Arsenal stretched their run of games without a victory to nine – their worst run of form since 1977 – as Brighton heaped further misery on the Gunners with a deserved 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.
The Seagulls had the better of the game in the opening 30 minutes with Neal Maupay and Davy Propper both drawing saves out of Bernd Leno. Arsenal, in contrast, looked lethargic – misplacing passes and struggling to carve out any opportunities of their own.
The Seagulls grabbed a deserved opener in the 36th minute, Adam Webster firing home a shot after the hosts failed to deal with a corner.
The goal sparked a mini-Gunners revival just before half time, with Joe Willock’s header from a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cross being well saved by Mat Ryan.
After the break this revival continued with Alexandre Lacazette nodding home from a corner in the 51st minute to level up the scores. Arsenal continued to create chances and had a goal ruled out by VAR after David Luiz was shown to have strayed offside before firing home Mesut Ozil’s free kick.
The Gunners were then made to rue their missed opportunities when Aaron Mooy managed to pick out Maupay who headed the Seagulls in front with ten minutes remaining.
Here’s the breakdown of this one.
Arsenal
Talking Point
The Gunners came into the game knowing that anything less than a win would represent their longest run without a victory since 1977, so you would think they would have come out with a point to prove? Well, they didn’t.
Arsenal’s first-half performance was as bad, if not worse than anything witnessed during the Unai Emery era, with the hosts looking demotivated, uninspired and lethargic. They were even arguing with each other. Whatever Freddie Ljungberg had been working on during the week clearly had not had its desired effect.
Ljungberg had to respond at the break and he brought on Nicolas Pépé in an attempt to inject some life into the Gunners performance. The club’s record signing’s introduction did indeed galvanise the hosts and they soon found an equaliser through Lacazette’s header.
The revival continued for a while but soon burnt out as Arsenal allowed the visitors back into the game. That would prove to be a fatal error, with Maupay’s header condemning the Gunners to their worst run of form since the 1970s. It was nothing less than what their abject first-half performance deserved.
Player Ratings
Starting XI: Leno (7); Bellerin (6), Sokratis (5), David Luiz (6), Kolasinac (5); Torreira (7), Xhaka (5), Willock (5); Ozil (5), Lacazette (5), Aubameyang (5)
Substitutes: Pépé (6), Tierney (5), Martinelli (5)
Star Man
It feels a bit ridiculous selecting a star man after a performance like that but I guess the Gunners best player was Lucas Torreira.
While some players’ commitment to the club can be questioned after such seemingly disengaged displays this evening, the Uruguayan’s work rate never wavered.
He passed the ball well at times as well…not all the time though.
Brighton
Talking Point
The Seagulls had lost their last four away games coming into this one and on their first-half performance it was hard to see why.
Brighton were disciplined defensively, catching Arsenal’s attackers offside frequently in the opening exchanges, while they also went forward with patience and purpose with Aaron Connolly looking most dangerous.
The Gunners’ second-half fightback was intelligently managed by the Seagulls who never let the hosts overwhelm them going forward.
Brighton got a deserved reward for their committed defending with Maupay’s winning goal, that ended their shocking recent away form.
Player Ratings
Starting XI: Ryan (7); Alzate (6), Dunk (7), Webster (7), Burn (6); Propper (7), Stephens (7), Mooy (7); Gross (6), Connolly (8), Maupay (8)
Substitutes: Montoya (7)
Star Man
Brighton’s defence deserve a mention for their mostly resolute performance but the Seagulls’ star man this evening was the Irish pocket rocket, Aaron Connolly.
It was a performance bursting with enthusiasm from the 19-year-old, who ran himself ragged before being replaced with 15 minutes left to play.
He got into a series of promising positions in the first half and just needs to improve his decision making to become a genuinely top-class Premier League striker.
Looking Ahead
Next up, the Gunners travel to West Ham as they continue to try and close the gap on the top four, before they face Standard Liege in their final Europa League fixture of the season in a weeks time.
Brighton on the other hand host Wolves on Sunday as the Seagulls will be look to pull further away from the relegation zone.