Report: Brighton 1-1 Arsenal (inc. goals)

01/04/2025 02:33 PM

Arsenal: Raya, Partey, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Jorginho, Merino, Nwaneri, Trossard, Jesus

Subs: Neto, Tierney, Lewis-Skelly, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Odegaard, Kabia, Butler-Oyedeji, Martinelli

Arsenal missed the opportunity to go three points behind Liverpool after drawing 1-1 against Brighton at the AMEX on Saturday, despite a first half goal from Ethan Nwaneri.

Mikel Arteta made three changes from the side that beat Brentford on Wednesday, with Jorginho, Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard all coming into the side, alongside Ethan Nwaneri who retained his place in the eleven.

Kai Havertz failed to make the matchday squad for the second successive game after struggling with illness, while Martin Odegaard also dropping to the bench having fallen victim to the same sickness bug going around the squad.

It was a measured start Arsenal who maintained spells of possession without really threatening until Gabriel Jesus was played through by Jorginho after ten minutes, but could only fire straight at Bart Verbruggen from a difficult angle.

Replays showed he was offside from the initial pass but it was an encouraging move from the Gunners who beat the Brighton backline with ease.

Just minutes later, Arteta’s men would open the scoring and it came from the left boot of Nwaneri – who scored his second top flight goal of the season – becoming the first ever Arsenal player to score more than one Premier League goal before his 18th birthday.

Rice and Merino combined brilliantly on the touchline, before the Spaniard set Nwaneri away who ran into the box and squeezed an effort under the body of Verbruggen. 1-0.

Having controlled most of the first half, Arsenal were fortunate not to concede an equaliser when they were caught playing out from the back, with Joao Pedro finding Simon Adingra who skewed wide – off balance – with the goal at his mercy.

That proved to be a wake up call for the visitors, who almost doubled their lead when Nwaneri inadvertently hit the bottom of the post from a corner, before Gabriel Jesus headed another corner over with Merino also going for the same ball.

Heading into half time, the game was becoming quite frantic with the home fans voicing their frustrations at every Arsenal set piece, before Nwaneri was eventually booked for time-wasting after taking too long from a corner.

Both teams made changes at half time with Gabriel Martinelli replacing Nwaneri, while the hosts introduced Georginio Rutter and Yankuba Minteh (in place of Brajan Gruda and Matt O’Riley) in hopes of changing the game.

After an even start to the second half, the game turned within a matter of seconds when Merino missed a presentable opportunity – miscuing his shot after being found by a clever Rice free kick along the ground – before Brighton went up the other end and won themselves a penalty.

Joao Pedro looked to head the ball past William Saliba, only for Saliba to catch the Brazilian with his head which was deemed enough contact for a penalty by referee Anthony Taylor. Pedro stepped up and found the corner, sending Raya the wrong way. 1-1.

With the game becoming increasingly stretched, Brighton were inches away from taking the lead when Minteh got free down the right hand side and was allowed to advance into the box unchallenged, with his low cross somehow evading both Pedro and Mitoma in the middle.

An already mixed and matched Arsenal team were visibly struggling and finding it harder to control transitions, with Brighton surging forward at every opportunity despite the route to David Raya proving difficult.

There were some late opportunities for the visitors from set piece situations – Thomas Partey heading over in injury time was probably their best – although once Brighton equalised you had a feeling they lacked the reserves (and options) to find a second wind.

The Gunners’ unbeaten run continues but this point does very little for them in their pursuit of Liverpool, who have two games in hand and could extend their lead to 11 points.

A miserable, wet and windy night on the South East Coast proved to be just that – miserable.

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