Brighton End Arsenal’s Perfect Start with Stunning 3-0 Amex Win
Brighton ended Arsenal’s seven-match winning start to the season with a commanding 3-0 victory at the Amex Stadium, exposing a rare lack of control from the reigning champions and moving to within two points of the Premier League summit.
Mikel Arteta’s side arrived in Sussex having won every match in all competitions, but Fabian Hurzeler’s high-energy Brighton repeatedly disrupted their build-up and dominated the key physical contests. Arsenal remain second on goal difference, although Manchester City have a game in hand.
Arteta accepted that Brighton merited the result, pointing to his side’s failure to deal with the hosts’ press, compete for second balls and apply their usual defensive principles. He said Arsenal had fallen below both their own expected level and the standard required in the Premier League.
Missed chance followed by Brighton’s second
Arsenal had an opportunity to reduce the deficit before half-time when Martin Odegaard’s shot was blocked and the loose ball dropped to Bukayo Saka in the penalty area. The England forward could not convert.
Brighton punished that miss almost immediately. Charalampos Kostoulas found room on the edge of the area, turned and scored to make it 2-0, leaving Arsenal with a major task after the break.
Arteta identified the sequence around Saka’s chance as a crucial period in the contest. His team had been under sustained pressure and, unlike usual, could not play their way out of it.
Andres seals a memorable week
Any prospect of an Arsenal recovery disappeared 12 minutes into the second half. Chema Andres met a corner from Gross with a header to complete Brighton’s 3-0 win.
The goal was Brighton’s 11th in a remarkable week that had already included victories over Coventry City and Manchester United. Late attempts from Kai Havertz for Arsenal and Matt O’Riley for Brighton required saves, but neither changed a result that had long been settled.
Brighton’s win lifted them to third place, two points behind the leaders. Arteta nevertheless urged his players to treat the defeat as an important corrective after what he described as an exceptional six or seven weeks of performances and competition.
For Arsenal, the response will now matter as much as the setback: their unbeaten opening run has gone, and the result underlined the cost of losing duels and control against one of the division’s most aggressive pressing teams.
