Brighton 0-3 Arsenal: Gunners give Albion footballing lesson

You could spend hours dissecting what went wrong in Brighton 0-3 Arsenal. But the simple fact of the matter is the Albion were beaten by a much better team, one who have clearly progressed from where they were this time last year when the scoreline at the Emirates Stadium was reversed.

Remember that glorious day back in May 2023? Brighton went to the Emirates and won 3-0, all-but ending the Gunners’ title hopes and causing thousands of Arsenal fans to walk out on their team long before the final whistle.

The different trajectories the two clubs have gone on in the intervening 11 months was clear for all to see in Brighton 0-3 Arsenal.

Whereas the Gunners have improved by signing the likes of Declan Rice, Brighton have stood still at best. Injuries have admittedly been crippling, partly because there was not enough depth to cope with the Europa League.

Throw in the sales of both Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo, and there is no doubt Roberto De Zerbi is working with a weaker squad this time around.

That is not to say the Albion should have signed Rice or something; just that they are finding out the hard way how quickly things can change if you stick with what you have in the Premier League for a second rather than continually try and improve.

More should have been done to bolster that vital midfield engine room when it became apparent the two key players who filled it were departing in the same transfer window.

Too late now, of course. And so the 2023-24 season is in danger of drifting into nothingness for its final two months. An historic campaign which took the Seagulls from Marseille to Amsterdam to Athens to Rome deserves a better finish than this.

Not that there is any disgrace in losing to the Gunners. Want to know how good they were in Brighton 0-3 Arsenal? Referee John Brooks was absolutely God-awful and yet it still felt like the scoreline reflected the game.

The main talking point involving Mr Brooks came with the decision to award Arsenal a first half penalty when Tariq Lamptey tripped up Gabriel Jesus in the box.

Although Lamptey got a touch on the ball, it was not sufficient enough to take it away from Jesus. Had Jesus not been brought down with Lamptey already falling to ground, he would have easily collected possession and been able to advance towards goal.

That presumably is why Mr Brooks pointed to the spot and VAR agreed. It was a tough one to call. Does a touch of the ball matter when said touch does not do enough to alter the attack? Roberto De Zerbi sided with the officials for once, saying afterwards it was a clear penalty.

Perhaps the best way to summarise it is that Brighton would have wanted a spot kick up the other end if the boot were on the other foot… but VAR would almost certainly have intervened in Arsenal’s favour. European Super League Elite Six bias at its best.

Bias also shone through in the way Mr Brooks handled much of the rest of the game. A quick Arsenal free kick was allowed to be taken 10 yards further forward from where the foul took place being one example.

Then there were the antics of Ben White which received no punishment. Five seconds after a minor coming together with Pervis Estupinan, White grabbed his throat and went down as if he had just been choke slammed by The Undertaker.

It was a piece of acting nearly as bad as White’s fake tan. There was none of this gamesmanship when White was a Brighton player; he always came across as a nice young lad. What have Arsenal done to turn him into such a prick?

Albion supporters were given an early warning of what was to come when the Gunners should have taken the lead inside of the opening 60 seconds.

Martin Odegaard swung over a free kick, Bart Verbruggen started to come but then stopped in no man’s land and was subsequently very lucky that Gabriel headed inches wide of the virtually open goal.

Saka began to grow in influence as the first half went on. He got away from Pervis Estupinan to put an effort just wide before teeing up Jesus for a powerful curling shot from the edge of the box pushed away at full stretch by a fine Verbruggen save.

Arsenal were awarded their controversial penalty on 33 minutes which Saka drilled into the bottom corner. Hopefully, he is as accurate from 12 yards for England at the Euros this summer should it come down to it.

Brighton tested David Raya for the first time in the closing stages of the opening half, Julio Enciso twisting and turning to create the space for a 25 yard effort palmed away by the Arsenal goalkeeper.

Odegaard drew another good save from Verbruggen shortly after the break, leading to the Albion having their best spell of the game.

A typically shit corner failing to beat the first man fortunately became a good opportunity when the ball fell to Enciso.

He might have volleyed into the North Stand, but Brighton were starting to look dangerous with Enciso at the heart of it.

No prizes for guessing what happened next – Enciso went from danger for Brighton to creating an Arsenal goal.

His terrible pass gifted possession to Odegaard and after a quick exchange of passes between Jorginho and Kai Hazertz, the German forward was able to beat Verbruggen from three yards out.

It was game over at that point with 28 minutes still to play. Just to rub salt into the wounds, on came Leandro Trossard to score the third on his first appearance back at the Amex since scuttling off to Belgium on the Eurostar to force through a transfer from Brighton to Arsenal.

On account of him effectively going on strike last January, Trossard was met with boos as he replaced Jesus two minutes after the Gunners netted their second.

The Vampire of Genk though had the last laugh when Pascal Gross lost possession to Jorginho to release Trossard.

Carlos Baleba was last man but still a good 10 yards into the Arsenal half, leaving Trossard plenty of space to gallop into and dink the ball over Verbruggen with the most composed of finishes.

That gave the Gunners an aggregate win of 5-0 over Brighton this season; a far cry from days of recent past when playing Arsenal was almost a guaranteed three points for the Albion.

Not anymore. That is testament to how the Gunners have evolved their squad to better keep pace with Manchester City and Liverpool at the top.

Something this season has shown Brighton need to do if they are to remain in and around the European hopefuls in future.