Home · Sports · Sep 19 archive
Arsenal's aura of champions evaporates after Brighton thrash them 3-0
Confirmed
In Short: Former champions Arsenal were thrashed 3-0 by Brighton in a shocking Premier League match.
Former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer commented on BBC Radio 5 Live, 'It should have been more, the chances Brighton created, they were that good.
Arsenal, the defending champions, faced a humbling defeat at the hands of Brighton, who dominated the pitch and secured a comfortable 3-0 victory.
Brighton's Pascal Gross opened the scoring in the 31st minute, firing from the edge of the box with his effort going in off the post.
Charalampos Kostoulas doubled Brighton's lead just before halftime, turning on the edge of the box and firing past David Raya.
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal's manager, made no changes at halftime, but Brighton extended their lead 12 minutes into the second half.
Arsenal's uncharacteristic performance saw them lose challenges they would usually win, and they struggled to cope with Brighton's intensity and looked nervous in possession.
Brighton's victory was particularly significant given Arsenal's impressive start to the season, where they had won their previous nine league games and seven matches in all competitions.
The manner of Arsenal's defeat, their heaviest as reigning top-flight champions since 1989, offers hope to their title rivals that they are not invincible.
Pascal Struijk, making his first Premier League start for Brighton, nearly added a fourth from another corner but headed wide under pressure.
Arsenal had a late chance to reduce the deficit when Kai Havertz broke through on goal, but he shot straight at Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
The defeat comes as Arsenal prepares for their Champions League campaign against Napoli, while Brighton's victory caps a remarkable week that included a 3-2 comeback victory at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup.
What's confirmed
- Former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer commented on BBC Radio 5 Live, 'It should have been more, the chances Brighton created, they were that good.
- Arsenal, the defending champions, faced a humbling defeat at the hands of Brighton, who dominated the pitch and secured a comfortable 3-0 victory.
- Brighton's Pascal Gross opened the scoring in the 31st minute, firing from the edge of the box with his effort going in off the post.
- Charalampos Kostoulas doubled Brighton's lead just before halftime, turning on the edge of the box and firing past David Raya.
- Mikel Arteta, Arsenal's manager, made no changes at halftime, but Brighton extended their lead 12 minutes into the second half.
- Arsenal's uncharacteristic performance saw them lose challenges they would usually win, and they struggled to cope with Brighton's intensity and looked nervous in possession.
- Brighton's victory was particularly significant given Arsenal's impressive start to the season, where they had won their previous nine league games and seven matches in all competitions.
- The manner of Arsenal's defeat, their heaviest as reigning top-flight champions since 1989, offers hope to their title rivals that they are not invincible.
- Pascal Struijk, making his first Premier League start for Brighton, nearly added a fourth from another corner but headed wide under pressure.
- Arsenal had a late chance to reduce the deficit when Kai Havertz broke through on goal, but he shot straight at Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
- The defeat comes as Arsenal prepares for their Champions League campaign against Napoli, while Brighton's victory caps a remarkable week that included a 3-2 comeback victory at Old Trafford in the Carabao Cup.
What's still developing
- But Arsenal were humbled on the south coast as a well-drilled and clinical Brighton outfit beat them comfortably 3-0 to go third in the table.
- Jamie Carragher and Daniel Sturridge labelled Chelsea ‘a work in progress’ after their defeat to reigning champions Arsenal Jamie Carragher and Daniel Sturridge labelled Chelsea ‘a work in progress’ after their defeat to reigning champions Arsenal Sky Sports pundits Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Carragher have ruled Chelsea out of the Premier League title race after emphasising the “massive gulf” between the teams following the Blues’ 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.
- Xabi Alonso ’s side were tipped to challenge the champions this season after a promising start to the new campaign that saw them win 3-2 and 4-3 against Fulham and Brighton in their opening two games, and they got off to the perfect start at the Emirates as Morgan Rogers opened the scoring within 90 seconds.
- “I feel as if [Chelsea] started the game well, but ultimately, you can see that there are few things that need to change for them to be as fluid as they can be,” said Sturridge at full-time on Sky Sports.
- It was more of the same in the second half at the Emirates too, with the champions controlling the game and limiting Chelsea to very little in attack before Martin Odegaard finished a brilliant move to rifle in the winner.
- ‘That’s natural, but now it’s the competition and when you face each other you know what happens.’ Chelsea have got off to lightning starts in both of their opening matches of the season, with Joao Pedro scoring 31 seconds into their clash with Fulham before Romeo Lavia broke the deadlock in the fourth minute against Brighton.
- The Gunners followed that up with a hard-fought 1-0 win away to Unai Emery’s Aston Villa, who had been hammered 4-0 at Brighton in their previous contest.
- The reigning champions then get their Champions League campaign up and running away at Napoli on Wednesday night, before returning to Premier League action with three tough matches on the road at Sunderland, Ipswich and Brighton.
- Emiliano Martínez was brought straight into the starting line-up against Brighton last time out, having been announced hours before kick-off, and he will be hoping for a shutout against his former club.
- Reigning champions Arsenal have set down an early marker in their title defence with back-to-back wins over Coventry City and Aston Villa without conceding a goal.
- By contrast, Xabi Alonso has overseen two thrillers in the Premier League already, with Chelsea getting past Fulham and Brighton in high-scoring games.
- READ: Big Midweek: Champions League returns with tasty Liverpool and Arsenal fixtures, reborn Raphinha, Man City tactical battle… Mac Allister has two years left on his Liverpool contract, and he has now revealed to reporters that the club is “not in a position” to offer him a new contract, while he has confirmed that he had a “chance” to leave in the summer.