Arsenal FC Eats Humble Pie: Destroyed By Brighton 0-3
– Player ratings as Gunners defeat puts Man City on brink of title
By Jack Gallagher, 90MIN
Man City are now just one win away from winning the Premier League title after Arsenal’s defeat to Brighton at the Emirates Stadium.
Goals from Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan ensured a deserved win for Brighton on Sunday, all-but handing Man City the title in the process.
After a competitive opening full of heavy challenges, it was Brighton who’d have the first notable shot on goal with Julio Enciso dancing around Jakub Kiwior before forcing Aaron Ramsdale into a smart save at his near post.
Arsenal began to really dominate the game thereafter, winning the ball back off of Brighton in the final third on a number of occasions. One of these occasions would almost lead to the opening goal, with Alexis Mac Allister being dispossessed by Martin Odegaard, before the Norwegian thread the ball through to Gabriel Jesus on the right of the penalty area. From an ever-increading angle, Jesus was able to force Jason Steele into a save with his feet.
On the half-hour mark the Gunners would come even closer to opening the scoring when substitute Leandro Trossard – on for the injured Gabriel Martinelli – cut in from the left flank and cannoned the ball off of the crossbar.
At the start of the second half, Arsenal were made to rue those missed chances when Enciso gave his side a 1-0 lead. The talented youngster reacted first to a volleyed Pervis Estupinan cross from the left to head home the opening goal – despite being 5’6.
The Gunners pressed forward with real intent after going behind, with substitute Reiss Nelson cutting in from the left and drilling just wide of the post in the 63rd minute.
Seven minutes later Trossard would come close after he was found with a lovely through ball from Odegaard. His first time effort from just inside the penalty area however, was well gathered by Steele.
After these chances were spurned, and despite Mikel Arteta firing every attacker on the Gunners’ books on the pitch, Brighton were very comfortable for the rest of the game.
They were so comfortable in fact, that they managed to double their lead through Deniz Undav.
The substitute capitalised on some sloppy play from Trossard and Aaron Ramsdale to latch onto a loose ball in the penalty box and beautifully dink the ball over the Arsenal goalkeeper and into the net.
In the 97th minute, Brighton added a misery-compiling third through Estupinan. The full-back was quickest to react to a save from Ramsdale to tap home and make it 3-0.
Arsenal player ratings
GK – Aaron Ramsdale – 4/10 – Could do nothing about the first goal, but his poor distribution led to the second.
RB – Ben White – 3/10 – Struggled at times with long balls over the top.
CB – Jakub Kiwior – 4/10 – Looked slightly shakier than he has in recent games.
CB – Gabriel – 6/10 – A battling performance against the towering presence of Evan Ferguson.
LB – Kieran Tierney – 5/10 – He’s a good player, but Arsenal a much better team with Zinchenko in the line-up.
CM – Martin Odegaard – 6/10 – Showed glimpses of quality, but didn’t make enought of an eipact on the gamer
CM – Jorginho – 4/10 –Struggled to really get a foothold in the middle of the park.
CM – Granit Xhaka – 5/10 – A decent first half showing but a lot quieter in the second half.
RW – Bukayo Saka – 6/10 – Worked hard but didn’t proved the needed end product.
ST – Gabriel Jesus – 4/10 – Had one half-decent chance to score in the first half. Simply didn’t do enough after that.
LW – Gabriel Martinelli – N/A – Came off injured early on.
Substitutes
Leandro Trossard – 4/10 – Hit the crossbar in the first half. At fault for a goal in the second.
Thomas Partey – N/A.
Reiss Nelson – N/A.
Emile Smith Rowe – N/A.
Manager – Mikel Arteta – 5/10 – Out-thought tactically by De Zerbi today and looked flustered in the second half, being booked for an outburst at the officials.
Brighton player ratings
GK – Jason Steele – 6/10 – So, so composed with the ball at his feet.
RB – Moises Caicedo – 8/10 – You can see why every top club wants to sign him this summer. He can even play right-back better than most.
CB – Levi Colwill – 6/10 – The youngster impressed once again with his quality on the ball.
CB – Lewis Dunk – 6/10 – Dealt with Gabriel Jesus well.
LB – Pervis Estupinan – 8/10 – Is he the best left-back in the Premier League right now? He’s certainly in the conversation at the very least. Scored his first ever Premier League goal.
DM – Pascal Gross – 6/10 – Tidy in possession throughout the game and helped Brighton take control at times.
DM – Billy Gilmour – 5/10 – Worked hard but was subbed off in the 60th minute.
RM – Julio Enciso – 8/10 – So lively throughout and bagged a deserved goal.
AM – Alexis Mac Allister – 6/10 – Very busy in the middle of the park and showed some real quality on the ball at times too.
LM – Kaoru Mitoma – 7/10 – Most of his best work was actually done on the defensive side of the ball.
ST – Evan Ferguson – 6/10 – Enjoyed a fiercely physical battle with Gabriel.
Substitutes
Danny Welbeck – 6/10.
Facundo Buonanotte – N/A.
Deniz Undav – 7/10 – Scored a lovely goal.
Manager – Roberto De Zerbi – 8/10 – Another brilliant showing from his Brighton team. The Italian backed his side to play their game, and they did just that.
Man of the match: Julio Enciso
Culled from 90mim.com (with the exception of inputs in the headline)
