Arsenal pass another test of their title credentials with win over Brighton
Arsenal 2-0 Brighton (Jesus 53′, Havertz 87′)
EMIRATES STADIUM — There is a long way to go until Arsenal can contemplate toasting a first Premier League title in two decades, but while rivals are slipping up they are passing most tests of their credentials with A* efficiency.
It was in the corresponding home fixture against Brighton last season, that Arsenal’s blazing title charge was doused for good, a 3-0 thrashing in May ending any hope of toppling Manchester City. This time they won to go five clear of Pep Guardiola‘s stuttering side and temporarily at least, leapfrog Liverpool into pole position.
Mikel Arteta’s side have made a welcome habit of turning one point into three in the nick of time and ending unwelcome records. A 1-0 win over City in October ended a seven-game losing sequence against them at the Emirates, while this victory snapped a three-game run of home defeats against the Seagulls. Arsenal’s clean sheet meant they became the first team since Fulham in February to prevent Brighton from scoring in a Premier League match, a run spanning 32 games.
Taking the quality of the opposition into account, this was arguably Arsenal’s most complete performance of the season. And yet the relief that poured out of every corner of the stadium when Kai Havertz drilled in the clincher three minutes before the 90 was proof of the fear that had started to seep in.
Just minutes after Pascal Gross had come inches away from snaffling an equaliser. Even at their best, Arsenal are not wholly convincing, but this was the type of game champions-elect find a way to succeed in.
Brighton were unusually un-Brighton like, the hangover of Thursday’s Europa League heroics clearly apparent. Arsenal were coursing with positive energy, Brighton were running on fumes.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the individual battle between Bukayo Saka and James Milner. When Roberto De Zerbi’s side is at their tigerish best, their opponents barely have room to breathe. Saka frequently found himself in 10 yards of space with Milner simply unable to keep up.
Milner will turn 38 at the start of next month, and there are times these days when you see his name on a teamsheet and wince in apprehension at what he may endure. He suffered a nightmare before Christmas in north London.
By the half-hour mark Brighton had two central midfielders deployed at full-back, with Adam Hinshelwood filling in for the compromised Joel Veltman, up against two of the division’s most lively wingers. Injuries in those positions have bruised Brighton, but fortunately their centre-backs were near faultless. Jan Paul van Hecke and Lewis Dunk were superb. Dunk summed up their dogged determination, blocking a ferocious Martin Odegaard strike where it hurts. Van Hecke’s only misstep was a glancing header to set up the opening goal.
When a player in blue and white stripes was eventually cautioned for blocking Saka, it was Kaoru Mitoma, rather than Milner, who was the recipient. Arteta’s animated complaints in the brief period between the foul being committed and the card issued led to him earning a fourth yellow of the campaign, more than all of his players with the exception of Havertz.
Brighton have made a habit of bloodying Arsenal noses but too rarely threatened. A final shot count of 26-6 was proof of the home side’s dominance.
“If we generate more [chances] the probability of scoring will be higher and that’s the only thing that we can focus on,” Arteta said.
“We have great players that can define games and finish actions.
“Today we needed too many situations to kill the game and that was the fear especially after half-time that it was going to be one of those days because the moment you give something to this team they are going to take it.”
There is much to admire about Brighton’s steadfast refusal to launch the ball long, but they ran the gauntlet one time too many. Gabriel Jesus nodded in the opener from a corner, conceded by the visitors after a misplaced Bart Verbruggen pass had initiated an Arsenal counter on the edge of their own box. Executing De Zerbi ball is tough at the best of times, not least when weary minds are guiding wearier legs.
De Zerbi’s response was swift, the removal of Milner as part of a triple substitution ushering in a change of shape, which had Brighton playing without any full-backs at all in what was effectively a 3-2-5 formation. They improved after the changes but not sufficiently to breach Arsenal’s rearguard, that gilt-edged chance for Gross aside.
Player of the match: Martin Odegaard
No goals or assists for Arsenal’s birthday boy but his patient probing was integral to the win.
Brighton caught Arsenal on a bad day. “We suffered a lot,” acknowledged De Zerbi. “I think Arsenal are one of the best, maybe this season the best team in the Premier League.”
Arteta will hope this performance will be a sign of things to come.
