SUPER SUB LACA SINKS SEAGULLS
Frenchman scores 21 seconds after coming on as Arsenal turn a corner
WHISPER it very quietly, but the Arsenal crisis appears to be over for now. But Mikel Arteta will, of course, argue his team have some distance to go before they are able to turn the hazard lights off.
But finally, after the most disastrous of starts to their season, Arsenal appear to be turning the corner.
The players’ reaction at the final whistle said it all. Clenched fists and victorious hugs all round — this meant everything to them.
It took 21 seconds for Alexandre Lacazette to make his mark after climbing off the bench as a second- half substitute, the Frenchman securing Arsenal’s second successive victory with the coolest of finishes.
But this triumph was more testament to the team’s spirit and tenacity than Lacazette’s prowess in front of goal. The Boxing Day win over Chelsea came as a major pick-me-up for Arteta and his forlorn team, but it would have meant nothing without another step forward here on the south coast.
That is why this win meant the world to the Spaniard and his team. Finally, tangible proof that they can permanently emerge from their sickening slump. Finally, a hint of consistency, even just for two games.
It is Arteta’s job to ensure his once struggling team remain upwardly mobile.
He spoke emotionally prior to the game about his sleepless nights in recent weeks. After his team’s showing last night, you would imagine he will be sleeping far easier.
Brighton manager Graham Potter ( right) arguably needed a victory here even more than the man in the opposing dugout.
The Seagulls had won just once in their previous 14 games before last night — a run that has left them hovering just over the drop zone. This will have done nothing to ease fears of another relegation fight.
Yet neither side looked fussed about the three points during a morbidly boring first half. Even after Saturday’s morale-boosting victory over their London rivals, Arsenal continued to look like a team utterly devoid of confidence and ideas in attack — a deflected Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang effort and a Granit Xhaka free- kick that sailed over the bar providing the only two highlights of their dour opening 45 minutes.
Brighton, following a tentative start, grew into the game as Alexis Mac Allister and Alireza Jahanbakhsh wasted their most promising openings.
The statistics, though, were telling. One shot on target — Bernd Leno’s denial of Jahanbakhsh’s 37th minute effort — the only moment of any real note.
The verve of Arsenal’s excellent display against Chelsea had deserted them during the opening period, while Brighton were clearly missing the dynamism and thrust of young England hopeful Tariq Lamptey, the right back ruled out of the clash through a hamstring injury. The Gunners had Hector
Bellerin to thank at the start of the first half, the Spaniard making a timely challenge to deny Mac Allister a clear chance.
Lewis Dunk saw his calls for a penalty rejected by referee Martin Atkinson from the resultant corner.
Then out of nowhere, Arsenal sprang into action.
Bukayo Saka’s pinpoint low cross from Xhaka’s pass appeared to leave Aubameyang with the simple task of slotting past Robert Sanchez from five yards — but the Brighton keeper somehow flung out his right leg to divert the ball over the bar.
What an opportunity for the
Gunners, not one they could afford to pass up given their current predicament.
Next it was Xhaka who was wasteful, the Swiss midfielder firing narrowly over with time and space inside the area after being set up by Emile Smith Rowe. Aubameyang blazed another shot over soon after.
The Gunners were in the ascendancy. Finally, they were penetrative, not passive.
But without the goal, the threat from Brighton remained. Davy Propper saw his fierce near-post effort saved by Leno following a brilliantly worked move.
And the stop proved crucial as
the Gunners stormed up the other end to take the lead.
It was Saka who was the architect — the academy graduate leaving all in his wake down the right before locating Lacazette, who had only just been introduced as a 66th-minute substitute.
And with his first touches of the ball, the French striker set himself before rifling past Sanchez to send Arsenal into a frenzy.
Yet more signs of recovery; Arteta erupted in his technical area — he knew how important this goal was.
And the Arsenal manager knew what was coming next. The kitchen sink.
But credit to the Gunners rearguard, they withstood everything Brighton could muster; Rob Holding and Pablo Mari — an unlikely central defensive pairing — were particularly heroic as the London club clinched victory and a clean sheet.
Arsenal, for now, are heading in the right direction. Brighton are facing a long winter.
BRIGHTON (4-4-2): Sanchez 6; Veltman 6, Dunk 6, Webster 7, Burn 6; Propper 6 (March 68, 6) Gross 6.5, Bissouma 7, Bernardo 6.5; Jahanbakhsh 6.5 (Trossard 75), Mac Allister 6.5 (Maupay 68, 6). Subs not used: Steele, White, Connolly, Welbeck, Zeqiri, Loumby. Booked: Jahanbakhsh. Manager: Grham Potter 6. ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno 7; Bellerin 7, Holding 7.5, Mari 7.5, Tierney 7; Elneny 6.5, Xhaka 7; SAKA 8 (Ceballos 81), Smith-Rowe 6.5 (Maitland-Niles 89), Martinelli 6 (Lacazette 66, 7.5); Aubameyang 6. Subs not used: Runarsson, Soares, Pepe, Mustafi, Willock, Nketiah. Scorer: Lacazette 66. Manager: Mikel Arteta 7. Referee: Martin Atkinson 6.5.