Brighton 2-4 Arsenal: Final 30 showed bright Albion future

Did we see the future Premier League champions at the Amex on New Year’s Eve 2022 where an entertaining night of football finished Brighton 2-4 Arsenal?

Quite possibly. The Gunners extended their lead at the top of the table to seven points, ruthlessly putting away an Albion side who were nowhere near their best until the final 30 minutes.

Whilst Arsenal must now retain high hopes of winning the title come May, Brighton can also be buoyed about their long term prospects. For the turnaround in performance came when Roberto De Zerbi introduced three players aged 20 or under into his attack.

Evan Ferguson netted his first league goal, becoming the Albion’s youngest ever top flight scorer. Jeremy Sarmiento and Julio Enciso were lively presences, forming a dynamic forward line alongside elder statesman Kaoru Mitoma at the ripe old age of 25.

Mitoma also found the back of the net and had another goal controversially chalked off for offside. Had that been allowed to stand and the scoreline been Brighton 3-4 Arsenal going into the closing stages rather than Brighton 2-4 Arsenal, it would have made for a very nervy finish for the Gunners. The Albion were on top and an equalising goal would not have come as a surprise.

You would have got long odds on that being the case when Arsenal led 3-0 inside of an hour. Disappointingly for Brighton, almost every goal they conceded was preventable.

Had the Albion been the solid defensive unit we have seen for much of the past three years, then they could easily have come away with all three points.

In many ways, it was typical Brighton to pick a home game with the Premier League leaders to start throwing mistakes in left, right and centre at the back.

There were plenty of concerns in the run up to the game about how the Albion would cope with neither Alexis Mac Allister or Moises Caicedo, suspended after collecting his fifth booking of the season in the 3-1 win at Southampton on Boxing Day.

The answer was okay at best; Billy Gilmour and Pascal Gross were unable to stamp their authority on the game or dictate the play in the same manner De Zerbi’s coveted holding midfielder duo can.

Hopefully those with the power of decision making regarding the future of Mac Allister and Caicedo will have taken Brighton 2-4 Arsenal as a warning that both players cannot be sold in the same transfer window without risking a serious unbalancing of the team.

Arsenal took the lead with only 71 seconds played, a goal so fast that any latecomers or those who deliberately avoided the pre-game light show would have missed it.

Tariq Lamptey marked his recall to the starting XI in place of Joel Veltman by losing the ball to Thomas Partey when attempting to dribble out of defence.

Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli were able to slice through the Albion midfield far too easily and when neither Lewis Dunk or Levi Colwill were convincing in their attempts to clear, Bukayo Saka beat Robert Sanchez to make it 1-0.

Sanchez made a good stop four minutes later from Oleksandr Zinchenko as Brighton’s poor start continued. Aaron Ramsdale saved from Solly March and Gross had a corner headed off the line in the closest the Albion could come in the first half.

It looked like Brighton might escape into half time just one goal behind until a corner up the other end with seven minutes remaining until the break.

Sanchez could have claimed it but remained routed to his line and when Gilmour produced a poor clearing header, Odegaard lashed in the loose ball via a deflection off Lallana.

The stands began to empty at that point as Albion fans headed to the bars to get their New Year’s Eve party started early.

American Express had kindly discounted the price of food and drink by 10 percent for the night, meaning a bag of Starburst now cost just £2.88 and a small glass of A Day at the Vineyards only £4.50.

Anyone still enjoying their cheapened wine when the second half kicked off would have missed the third Arsenal goal as the Albion this time conceded within two minutes.

Sanchez fumbled a Martinelli shot to present Eddie Nkeitah with a loose ball which he happily slid in. This was fast turning into the biggest New Year’s disaster since Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell drowned in the swimming pool after Ronnie and Jack got married.

De Zerbi’s changes however changed the complexion of the game and finally made Brighton a willing participant for the final third.

Gilmour and Gross linked up in midfield with the latter releasing Mitoma beyond the Arsenal defence. The Japanese international made no mistake with the opportunity, beating Ramsdale low and hard with a side footed effort for his second Premier League goal from four starts.

Arsenal looked more than a little worried and Brighton were now on top with their fearless youthful attacking foursome leading the way.

The next goal would be crucial so it was seriously disappointing when the Gunners scored it after more poor Albion defending and goalkeeping.

Odegaard hit a long ball forward to exploit a Brighton defence which had gone missing. That left Martinelli in a foot race with Lamptey.

The Brazilian forward was so rapid as to make Lamptey – no slouch himself – appear as if he were running through treacle with an Eddie Stobart lorry attached to his back.

Martinelli duly found himself one-on-one with Sanchez, poking the ball through the wide open legs of the Brighton goalkeeper. Arsenal had their three goal lead restored against the run of play.

The Albion deserve credit for continuing to fight despite that hammer blow. Dunk played a forward pass every bit as good as Odegaard’s for Martinelli, putting Ferguson in.

Ferguson showed remarkable strength for an 18-year-old, shrugging off the attentions of William Saliba before beating Ramsdale to make it Brighton 2-4 Arsenal.

Mitoma thought he had reduced the deficit to one when Gross found the Japanese international to beat Ramsdale for the second time on the night. VAR took a look however and found Mitoma to have put a toenail offside in the build up, ruling the goal out.

Arsenal held on after that with their relief at the final whistle a credit to the test Brighton had eventually given them.

A big few months lie ahead for the Gunners as they chase a first title since The Invicibles of 2004, but even in defeat Brighton could be reasonably pleased.

The Albion have a bright future promised thanks to their glut of youthful and raw attaching talent which caused the outstanding side in the Premier League so far this season a lot of problems.

Until Chelsea sign them all, anyway.