It has already been widely established that Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal team are responsible for the ruination of English football, the desecration of the beautiful game and the top flight’s obsession with set-pieces.
The charge sheet against the Premier League leaders may swell soon to take in the loss of the Easter fixtures, the new fad of up-and-under kick-offs and the collapse of Adam Peaty’s relationship with his parents.
The Brighton fans even pinned the political performance of the Prime Minister on the league leaders in their fury at being unable to break down the Arsenal defence. ‘Keir Starmer,’ they sang, as half-time approached, ‘he’s one of your own.’
But when the final whistle blew, they had to deal with it. Everyone had to deal with it. Vilify Arsenal as much as you want but the gutsy, gritty, scrappy, untidy 1-0 victory they earned on the south coast courtesy of a first-half winner from Bukayo Saka took them a giant step towards their first league title for 22 years.
Despite everyone willing them to do so and expecting them to do so, Arsenal have not shown any signs of ‘bottling it’. They have won five and drawn two of their last seven league games.
They have refused to crack and, on Wednesday night, more than 200 miles to the north, it was Manchester City who blinked first. It was City who drew with Nottingham Forest while Arsenal refused to buckle. They are seven points clear now and it will take a lot to wrestle this prize from them.
This gutsy, gritty, scrappy, untidy victory they earned on the south coast courtesy of a first-half winner from Bukayo Saka took them a giant step towards their first league title for 22 years
It may not have been the best performance from Arsenal but Gabriel, in particular, was a titan at the heart of their defence
It may not have been the best performance but Gabriel, in particular, was a titan at the heart of their defence, and Declan Rice was immense at the heart of their midfield. It was enough. It was enough to move them further clear and it was not even a set-piece that won it.
The nerves that have been gripping Arsenal in recent weeks and turning their victories into seat-of-the-pants, finger-nail-chewing ordeals for their supporters surfaced again inside the first two minutes.
David Raya tried to play a short ball out of his area to Martin Zubimendi but rolled it straight to Carlos Baleba instead. Baleba chipped the ball over Raya but Gabriel back-pedalled furiously, craned his neck for all he was worth and headed the ball behind for a corner as it dropped towards goal.
When Arsenal scored eight minutes later, Brighton must have been stung by the bitter irony of the circumstances. There seemed little danger when Bukayo Saka cut inside from the right and fired in a low shot straight at Bart Verbruggen.
But the ball took a slight deflection off Baleba and the Brighton goalkeeper made a terrible mess of trying to gather it. It cannoned off his heel as he stooped to catch it and rebounded into the net. Arsenal’s goalkeeper got away with his mistake. Brighton’s goalkeeper was punished for his.
If the game calmed down a little on the pitch after its fast start, it became more inflamed on the touchline. Mikel Arteta appeared to grow exasperated with Fabian Hurzeler’s complaints to the fourth official and jabbed his finger in his direction. Hurzeler backed away with a smirk.
Brighton pressed for an equaliser but Arsenal, even though they were without William Saliba because of an ankle injury, were impressively redoubtable at the back. Gabriel was the rock on which most of Brighton’s attacks foundered. He was a whirl of fine blocks and clean tackles.
Declan Rice was formidable, too. When he lost the ball a few minutes before half-time, he chased back and launched himself into a flying tackle that stifled Kaoru Mitoma’s shot in the instant it left his right boot.
Bukayo Saka’s shot at Bart Verbruggen was made a terrible mess of by the Brighton goalkeeper, with the ball cannoning off his heel and rebounding into the net
The beginning of the second half was notable mainly for a scream of pain and a roll of agony from Brighton centre half Olivier Boscagli after an innocuous challenge from Saka. Boscagli was up soon enough and sprinting forwards. It’s not just Arsenal who play the system. Everyone does it. It is the way the game has become.
So it went on. When Arsenal made a double substitution just before the hour, Hurzeler grew animated on the touchline and started baiting Kai Havertz as he waited to come on. ‘Same old Arsenal, always cheating,’ the home fans sang. They were only making a substitution. It’s allowed.
Brighton were still outplaying their visitors. Yankuba Minteh burst away from his marker and drilled a low cross into the six-yard-box. It could have gone anywhere but it bounced off an Arsenal defender and looped wide. Minutes later, a towering leap from Mats Wieffer did not yield the header it deserved and Raya gathered comfortably.
Arsenal should have put the game out of reach 15 minutes from the end when a clever ball from Jurrien Timber found substitute Leandro Trossard 10 yards out. Trossard had time to take a touch to steady himself but he didn’t use it. Instead, he stretched slightly to hit it first time and sliced it so badly it went out for a throw-in.
As the clock ticked down and Brighton grew increasingly infuriated by their inability to break their opponents down, Arsenal fell into the same old trap of failing miserably to keep the ball. They gave it away at will and invited Brighton on.
The seven minutes of injury time dragged on with Arteta’s side defending the edge of their box. That back-four refused to yield and when the final whistle blew, it felt as if there had been a critical shift in the title race.
Source: Daily Mail
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