Brighton Beats Joyless Arsenal to Pile More Pressure on Arsene Wenger
Brighton held on to beat Arsenal 2-1 in the Premier League at the AMEX Stadium, as Arsène Wenger's side slumped to their fourth defeat in a row.
Brighton took the lead early on, as Arsenal keeper Petr Čech flapped at a cross to set up a close-range finish from defender Lewis Dunk. Veteran striker Glenn Murray doubled his side's lead soon after with a powerful header, before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang pulled a goal back with a close-range flick on the cusp of half-time.
Arsenal came out the traps with a look of real intent, as their attacking players looked to outplay their opponents with fast, attacking football. Brighton kept their shape well, and close-down the Gunners at every opportunity. Mesut Özil had the first chance for the visitors, as his curled effort from the edge of the area dipped just over the bar in the third minute of the match.
Soon after, Dunk almost put the ball into the back of his own net, as he diverted Henrikh Mkhitaryan's whipped cross just over Mathew Ryan's goal. Dunk gave his side the lead soon after, as Čech struggled to punch away a corner - deflecting the ball into the path of the Englishman who smashed the ball into the top corner of the net from five yards out.
Brighton's tails were up, and midfielder Pascal Groß drew a fine low stop from Čech as the Seagulls poured forward to capitalise on their early lead. The Gunners managed to stabilise, and worked the ball smartly around their midfield as they looked to find an equaliser. Dunk headed over the bar soon after, as Brighton continued to look dangerous at set-pieces.
Çech came to the rescue in the 19th minute, as Alex Iwobi was quickly closed down by Groß just outside his own area, before sliding a perfectly-weighted through ball to Anthony Knockaert, whose low shot was scrambled clear by the flailing former-Chelsea stopper. Arsenal's frustrations began to show, as their attacking endeavours were continually thwarted.
The hosts scored their second of the afternoon midway through the second half. Groß's deftly-flighted cross found Glenn Murray in the penalty area, who capitalised from some woeful defending from Shkodran Mustafi to power a header passed Čech. Moments later, Murray's deft header was comfortably held by the keeper as Arsenal's defence failed to deal with a free-kick.
Groß saw a tame effort saved in the 31st minute, as Brighton continued to dominated their opponents. As half-time drew closer, Mkhitaryan lead a flying counter-attack for the Gunners, but chose to shoot from a tight angle rather than seek out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who was lurking at the back-post. The shot was well-saved by Ryan, who tipped the ball wide.
Arsenal pulled a goal back in the 42nd minute, as Iwobi picked out Granit Xhaka at the edge of the area, whose found Aubameyang with an accurate ball. The Gabonese striker deftly dinked the ball goal towards goal, which caught Ryan by surprise and gave the Gunners hope ahead of the half-time whistle. The Gunners almost drew level in first-half stoppage time, as Laurent Koscielny's header thundered into the post as Wenger's side began to find their stride.
Arsenal started the second half brightly, with Mkhitaryan's driven effort drawing a low save from Ryan. Brighton began to look less comfortable, and Özil drew a spectacular stop from Ryan soon after: The German international slammed a swerving effort towards goal, which was acrobatically tipped wide by the Australian international.
Özil continued to cause the hosts problems, marauding forward with impressive dribbling skills as his side chased an equaliser. Aubameyang nearly scored his second of the afternoon in the 62nd minute, as the referee did well to give the Gunners an advantage after a wild Ezequiel Schelotto challenge, before the former Borussia Dortmund man was denied from a tight-angle.
Arsenal were lucky not to be down to ten men as the game entered its final half-hour, as a wild shoulder-charge from Sead Kolašinac saw Schelotto leave the field with a suspected concussion. Izquierdo then tore through the Arsenal defence, outwitting Mustafi before launching a shot from the edge of the area just wide of Čech's near-post.
The hosts were denied a third goal by the offside flag as the game approached its final ten minutes - with Murray's close-range effort ruled out after a sensational sweeping move from Chris Hughton's side. Arsenal launched wave after wave of attack at Brighton, as they looked to draw level late on.
Aubameyang's turning effort was well-held by Ryan in the 92nd minute, as Brighton prepared to dig deep and defend for seven minutes of stoppage time. Brighton managed to hold on for a famous win, heaping pressure on their opposition's manager Wenger. The big victory saw the Seagulls rise to 10th in the league table, while the Gunners remained in sixth place; 13 points off the all-important Champions League qualification places.
