The best team won – but what if Brighton don’t make two mistakes?
Brighton last visited the Emirates Stadium in May 2023, securing a 3-0 victory over The Arsenal. That made it three wins a in a row for Brighton away against the Gunners.
This latest match was always going to be different. I felt after the wondrous efforts of Thursday evening in beating Marseille that the quick turnaround to Sunday would be a bridge too far.
The physical effort the Albion put into winning against Marseille was extreme, let alone the mental. That extends to the manager too, as anyone who watched DeZerbiCam on the Albion website will have seen. Roberto De Zerbi kicks every ball and feels every emotion.
Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya was confident in his side, saying in a pre-match interview that he thought Arsenal had a very good chance of winning.
That belief extended to Gunners fans too. The other half of my family all support Arsenal and they made it quite clear they did not think Brighton had a hope in hell.
Come full time, they were proven right. The best team had won. Arsenal deserved the three points. But what if the Albion had not made two big mistakes?
I could not help but wonder if Brighton might have left the Emirates with a point in the sort of robbery we have seen committed on ourselves many times in the past.
The first mistake came for the opening Arsenal goal, scored some eight minutes into the second half. From a Gunners corner, every blue and white shirt seemed to get drawn into the middle like moths to the flame.
That left Gabriel Jesus totally unmarked at the back post, needing just a simple header to put the ball into the back of the net.
Johnny Cantor and Warren Aspinall on BBC Radio Sussex summed it up by saying Jesus will not score an easier goal this season.
The second mistake came from the usually reliable Pascal Gross. Brighton had their best chance to score in the 82nd minute when Kaoru Mitoma crossed and Gross just needed to slide the ball in.
He though could only find the side netting with the goal gaping. 1-1 with eight minutes to go might have made for a very different finish; especially as Arsenal ensured that miss was double punished by scoring their second six minutes later.
Arsenal’s warm up tops set the tone for some of the dazzling football they were going to play. They looked like they were wearing black-and-white versions of Joseph’s technicolour dreamcoat.
There were big embraces between Mikel Arteta and De Zerbi. Arteta named an unchanged XI from the side who had started the Gunners’ last Premier League game, a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa.
De Zerbi meanwhile made five changes from the team who beat Marseille. It was great to see Danny Welbeck named on the bench after missing the past 11 games with injury.
Whilst the Albion struggled on the pitch, Johnny and Warren had problems of their own in the commentary box.
Their position at the Emirates was at the back of the stand, which meant their view being blocked by supporters wandering into seats after kick off and leaving 10 minutes before half time, no doubt for a toilet break and a pint.
Brighton were so under pressure in the first half that Johnny described Evan Ferguson as “lumbering around in midfield” due to the Albion struggling to get out of their own half.
Early shots from Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard narrowly missed. A deflection took a Gabriel Jesus effort just wide of the post.
Before the 30 minute mark and Brighton were dealt a blow when Joel Veltman pulled up holding his knee. Veltman tried to continue but to no avail, instead making way for young Jack Hinshelwood.
Veltman becomes yet another name on the already long list of Albion injuries. We wish him a speed recovery and hope it is not too serious; knees can be a long haul.
Bart Verbruggen was certainly earning his keep as shots and headers came at him thick and fast. He did a grand job of keeping them out.
In amongst wave after wave of Arsenal attacks, Lewis Dunk still managed to perform one of his amazing chest deflections back to Verbruggen. Dunk does it so coolly, even with numerous red and white shirts breathing down his neck.
Dunk went onto make some amazing blocks, including one which looked like it hurt his manhood. Oh the pain he must have been in from that Odegaard shot at close range. There was also an incredible header off the line and over the bar in the second half which prevented Ben White from scoring.
Arsenal saved their best chance of the first half for last. A superb pass from Odegaard through the channel released Bukayo Saka. The England winger squared to the incoming Gabriel Martinelli, whose lob was just a little too high over the Albion bar.
It felt like something of a miracle that Brighton managed to make it to the break on level terms. Warren said more movement was needed across the pitch to liven the Albion up. This lack of energy was a sure-fire sign the players were struggling from Thursday night.
Having survived for 53 minutes, it was disappointing that Brighton conceded in such cheap manner. De Zerbi responded almost immediately to the Jesus goal, bringing on Joao Pedro, Facundo Buonanotte and Igor Julio for Ferguson, Adam Lallana and James Milner.
Despite being behind and not playing particularly well, all you could hear over the airwaves was the 3,000 Brighton fans out singing 58,000 Gunners supporters.
Welbeck made his comeback in the 79th minute as Albion sought to continue their club record of scoring in 32 consecutive league games.
Gross should have made it 33 with that late chance put wide. Then came the killer blow as a good Arsenal counter attack presented Kai Havertz with the chance to make it 2-0. Havertz took it and that was that.
Still, no need for so much doom and gloom. A few days rest, cut out the mistakes, beat Crystal Palace and everything will be right in the Albion world heading into Christmas.
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
Seagulls Best Ever Season Volume 2 charts Brighton’s record breaking 2022-23 campaign through the eyes of Tony Noble, an East Stand Upper season ticket holder at the American Express Stadium. It is available from Waterstones, WHSmith, Amazon Bookstore and all good bookshops as well as the Albion Superstore at the Amex and via this link.
