By Olukayode Olumuyiwa.
Arsenal delivered the perfect response to Manchester City’s earlier Premier League victory on Saturday, reclaiming the top spot in the table with a narrow 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates Stadium. The result marks the Gunners’ sixth successive league win at home and maintains their unbeaten Premier League record at the Emirates this season.
Coming off a midweek Carabao Cup quarter-final win over Crystal Palace on penalties, Mikel Arteta’s side showed no signs of fatigue in their penultimate outing of the calendar year. It took less than 15 minutes for the hosts to break the deadlock. Capitalizing on a poor kick from Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen, Declan Rice—operating as a makeshift right-back—nodded the ball to Bukayo Saka. Saka laid the ball back to Martin Ødegaard, who drove a shot from the edge of the box into the net to claim his first goal of the season.
The Gunners remained in control throughout the first period and nearly doubled their lead when Martin Zubimendi’s clever flick forced Verbruggen into a desperate low stop. However, a second goal eventually arrived seven minutes into the second half. Pressured by Arsenal’s reputation for dangerous set-pieces, Brighton’s Georginio Rutter committed a costly error, glancing a near-post corner from Declan Rice past his own goalkeeper and into the net.
Despite appearing to be in complete control of the contest, Arsenal faced a late challenge when Diego Gómez pulled a goal back for the visitors with over 25 minutes left to play. The Paraguay international reacted quickest to fire home after Yasin Ayari had struck the far post, providing much-needed impetus to a Brighton side that had been lackluster until that point.
With momentum shifting toward the visitors, Arsenal relied on goalkeeper David Raya to preserve the lead. Making his 150th Premier League appearance, Raya produced a stunning fingertip save at full stretch to deny Yankuba Minteh’s curling effort.
Fabian Hürzeler’s men ultimately ran out of time in their pursuit of an equalizer. While the win sends Arsenal back to the summit of the league, the defeat sees Brighton drop to 12th place and extends their winless run to five matches.
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