Arsenal vs Brighton and Hove Albion. Premier League.
Emirates StadiumAttendance60,257.
Match report and highlights as goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz secure a 2-0 win for Arsenal over Brighton; victory sends Gunners into first place in Premier League with Liverpool second following draw against Man Utd
Monday 18 December 2023 05:54, UK
Mikel Arteta hailed Arsenal's "incredible" performance as they returned to the top of the Premier League table with a dominant 2-0 win over Brighton at the Emirates Stadium.
In a one-sided contest, Gabriel Jesus headed the opener from a corner soon after half-time and Kai Havertz added a breakaway second from substitute Eddie Nketiah's pass in the closing stages.
Arsenal spurned a succession of other chances either side of the goals, registering 26 shots to Brighton's six, but Havertz's strike, shortly after Pascal Gross had missed a guilt-edged chance at the other end, finally made the result safe.
The win ensures Arsenal bounce back from last weekend's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa while also capitalising on Manchester City's failure to beat Crystal Palace on Saturday. Brighton, meanwhile, slip a place to ninth following their Europa League exertions on Thursday.
Arteta said: "Outstanding, incredible from the start to the end. Big compliment to the players. Against a top side, we had an incredible performance and fully deserved to win the game.
"We had to be patient but at the same time, determined against this team. Because the moment you have certain doubts, they start to open up you up, to frustrate you and dominate with the ball.
"We didn't allow that to happen today. We showed a lot of maturity but also intelligence. This game against them requires you to be really intelligent, in certain areas especially, and we have done that in a really good way."
Brighton were chasing a fourth consecutive win at the Emirates Stadium but the first half was a story of total Arsenal dominance, with Bukayo Saka giving left-back James Milner a particularly torrid time.
The Arsenal winger got the better of the veteran on a string of occasions in the opening 15 minutes alone, producing two dangerous crosses then seeing a low shot saved by Bart Verbruggen.
Before long, Arsenal were threatening from all angles, with Martin Odegaard firing narrowly wide, Jesus spurning a series of half-chances and defender Gabriel Magalhaes heading too close to Verbruggen from a Gabriel Martinelli cross.
Martinelli was proving just as dangerous as Saka over on Arsenal's left flank and should have broken the deadlock when he slashed over from his fellow winger's cut-back.
The home fans were growing increasingly frustrated - but mostly with the decisions of referee Tim Robinson, who mystifyingly chose not to book Milner for a foul on Saka before getting a card out for manager Arteta following an animated reaction on the touchline.
There was still time for another Arsenal chance before the interval as Saka fired over, but the Gunners' picked up where they left off after the break and finally the opener arrived.
It was a simple goal, with Jan Paul van Hecke only able to flick on Saka's corner and Jesus unmarked at the far post to head into an empty net, with Verbruggen stranded.
Arsenal continued to pepper the Brighton goal, with Lewis Dunk clearing a Ben White header off the line and Odegaard, Havertz and Saka wasting other chances.
The hosts' profligacy was almost punished when Gross sent a Kaoru Mitoma cut-back inches wide of Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya's near post when he should have scored.
Within minutes, though, Declan Rice was forcing another save from Verbruggen at the other end, following a powerful run.
Then, finally, the hosts made the game safe, with substitute Nketiah releasing Havertz and the Germany international keeping his cool to net his fourth goal in seven games and spark more celebrations.
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said: "Outstanding, incredible from the start to the end. Big compliment to the players. Against a top side, we had an incredible performance and fully deserved to win the game.
"I have to praise them because I know how difficult it is and what Brighton does to teams. We didn't allow that to happen and for that I'm super happy.
"We had to be patient but at the same time, determined against this team. Because the moment you have certain doubts, they start to open up you up, to frustrate you and dominate with the ball.
"We didn't allow that to happen today. We showed a lot of maturity but also intelligence. This game against them requires you to be really intelligent, in certain areas especially, and we have done that in a really good way.
On Martin Odegaard's performance, he said: "He wanted to celebrate his beautiful birthday in a great way and he's done it with a win and a huge performance.
"But not only him. Against this team, individually, the way they press, man-to-man, you have to be so good, so accurate, so precise, so intelligent to do what we have done today and they have done it."
Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi said: "Arsenal played much better than us. They deserved to win the game. We suffered a lot.
"I think Arsenal are one of the best - maybe, this season, the best - team in the Premier League. We are not used to suffering in this way. We are used to controlling the game.
"But anyway, I'm really proud of the performance of the players. We suffered with the right attitude and the right mentality.
"I think we can find the advantage from this game in other games. We could score with Pascal Gross, with [Jack] Hinshelwood two times, but it wouldn't have been fair if we scored and finished 1-1 the game."
De Zerbi confirmed Joel Veltman suffered what looks like a serious knee injury, adding: "I don't like speaking about the problems, about the injuries.
"We want to transform the problems into opportunities, into possibilities for young players who need to become better and improve. We are playing with a lot of injuries but it's not a secret. Everybody knows the number of our injuries.
"We could play better but we played with the right attitude and mentality. I think this game will be important in the future. We will find this attitude and mentality in games and win in the future.
Arsenal head to Anfield next Saturday for a humdinger of a fixture vs Liverpool, kick off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports.
Brighton travel to Selhurst Park for a derby clash with Crystal Palace on Thursday 21 December, kick off 8pm, live on Sky Sports.
