April 09, (THEWILL) – Brighton and Hove Albion beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, putting Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season in jeopardy.
Goals from Leandro Trossard and Enock Mwepu gave Brighton the victory in a fixture where arsenal were the bookies favourite to win after the disappointment against Crystal Palace.
With two aggressive lineups on the pitch, the game started off fairly calmly, with only a Gabriel Martinelli burst bringing the Emirates fans to their feet.
Indeed, in the first quarter of an hour, it was the away side who were in command, with Yves Bissouma letting a stray effort fly from 30 yards.
Arsenal did not create their first opportunity of the afternoon until the 23rd minute. From a Bukayo Saka corner, Gabriel slipped in at the back post, but his header could only find the side netting.
Brighton were subsequently rewarded for their early efforts when a beautiful move just shy of the half-hour mark startled the Arsenal crowd. Enock Mwepu was sent scurrying down the right flank, and when he cut the ball across for Leandro Trossard, the Belgian hit the top corner with his effort.
A great stop from Lewis Dunk denied Emile Smith Rowe a leveller, before Arsenal thought they had equalised via Martinelli on the stroke of halftime. However, after a lengthy VAR review, it was determined that the Brazilian was fractionally offside.
At half-time, Arteta made a system change, shifting Saka and Martinelli to wing-back positions. On the resumption, though, it was Brighton who threatened first, with Ben White forced to intercept Marc Cucurella’s dangerous cross.
When a corner picked out the Brighton central defence inside the penalty area, Dunk drew Aaron Ramsdale into a good stop to prevent further damage to the Gunners.
Yet, it was to be as in the 67th minute, the Seagulls extended their lead thanks to a superb Mwepu goal. Moises Caicedo returned the ball from the byline to the midfielder, who blasted first-time past Ramsdale into the bottom corner.
When Cedric Soares floated a cross into the penalty box, Robert Sanchez was called into action as the Gunners pushed for a goal to spark a comeback. Three Arsenal players appeared to be on their way to achieve this, but the Brighton goalkeeper was fast to recover the ball.
Martin Odegaard’s long-range drive was deflected into the top corner by ex-Gunner Danny Welbeck in the dying minutes of the game, giving the Gunners a lifeline.
As the Seagulls clung on, Sanchez denied Eddie Nketiah with a magnificent stop in injury time, condemning a disgruntled Arsenal to their second defeat in a week.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
