Arsenal’s momentum halted by Brighton
Brighton & Hove Albion brought Arsenal’s Premier League winning run to a halt as the teams played out an uninspiring 0-0 draw at a raindrenched Amex Stadium on Saturday.
Graham Potter’s men enjoyed the upper hand for large parts of the game but lacked a killer touch as the Gunners failed to build on last weekend’s impressive 3-1 victory over their bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the North London derby.
Albion fans will be encouraged as their team climbed to fifth spot, two points behind leaders Chelsea, while Arsenal moved up to ninth.
Although Gabon international Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit a post with a first-half header, Mikel Arteta accepted his team’s below-par performance only merited a point, with the Gunners’ tally of five goals from their opening seven league games their lowest total since the 1986/87 season.
“[The header] was probably the only open situation in the first half, and we were unlucky not to score it,” Arteta told the BBC.
“I don’t think we deserved to win the game, we have to take the draw with the performance we had today and improve.
“I was more concerned about the way we played. We didn’t make enough right decisions,” he added.
“Every time there was a duel where we could escape pressure and attack open spaces, we came up short and against this structure we had to do better.”
Arteta’s defenders did well to keep up with Brighton’s fluid, intelligent attacking football, and although they came under pressure at set pieces, they often managed to get blocks in or force their hosts to shoot from distance.
“We have conceded one goal in the last five games which is really positive... we can now focus on the things we are doing well and work on the ones we need to improve,” Arteta said.
The Seagulls had made their best start to a Premier League campaign after winning four of their opening five games and hosted the Gunners while above them in the table for the first time since 1982.