WENGER IS SUNK BY LEWIS DUNK
Worst run in 41 years if Milan stick the stiletto in
When beaten at home by Ostersunds, Arsenal still won the tie and they might have lost twice in five days to Manchester City but nearly everybody does.
On the south coast, however, there would be no solace by the sea for Arsene Wenger as his team slumped to defeat for the fourth game in a row for the first time since 2002.
Lose in Milan on Thursday and it will be Arsenal’s worst losing sequence for nearly 41 years.
The statistics do not get any easier to digest. Beyond the statistics is the sour mood in the stands, with a ‘Wenger Out’ banner in the away end and a brief chorus of dissent from the fans.
Brighton are a strong unit in splendid form, improving and developing into a convincing Premier League outfit.
This was, however, all about Wenger and the inability of his side to respond to a week of criticism and recrimination which followed the feeble surrender in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, who then inflicted another chastening defeat on them at the emirates.
Belatedly, there was something resembling fighting spirit once Pierre- emerick Aubameyang scored two minutes before half-time.
Arsenal returned for the second half and dominated but the hole of their own making was simply too deep.
Roared on by a boisterous home crowd, Brighton were two up inside half an hour with goals from Lewis Dunk and Glenn Murray and there might easily have been more.
Wenger tried to blame fatigue due to the fixture schedule but confidence has been shattered to the point where they collapsed as soon as they were asked to defend. Brighton sprang out of defence on a counter-attack, forced a corner and took the lead in the seventh minute. Petr Cech later shouldered the blame, having decided to venture from his line and challenge Shane Duffy in the air.
In an attempt to punch clear, Cech merely pushed the ball down for Dunk, who gleefully swept the chance into an open net on the half-volley.
The goal unleashed a wave of Brighton chances. Arsenal, in fact, threatened to sink without trace, unable to get a grip on the game.
Cech went some way towards making amends with a save to thwart Pascal Gross and Anthony Knockaert.
Shkodran Mustafi blocked a shot from Jose Izquierdo.
Dunk and Duffy both missed the target from corners before Murray made it 2-0, following another case of Arsenal jitters.
Laurent Koscielny’s distribution from the back was poor, not for the only time in the game, and Gross delivered from the right.
Murray drifted away from his marker to thump a powerful header past Cech for his eighth goal in 10 games since the turn of the year.
Arsenal wobbled again, seemingly unsure how to respond and more discontent rumbled in the away end.
Sead Kolasinac was shown a yellow card for dissent and Jack Wilshere for an awful late tackle on Knockaert.
Mesut Ozil drove a ball past ezequiel Schelotto and sent it crashing into the advertising boards as the Brighton full back waited to take a throw-in.
Ozil trudged around with his head down. On the radio, BBC analyst David Pleat suggested he should go home if he didn’t want to be there, but the German was not the only one guilty of giving off appalling vibes.
Up front Aubameyang shook his head and threw down his arms as passes from team-mates failed to find him.
however, it was Aubameyang who gave Arsenal hope with a goal two minutes before the interval, his second in five games since signing from Borussia Dortmund, stabbed in from close range following a pass from Granit Xhaka.
The Gunners nearly went level but Koscielny headed against a post from henrikh Mkhitaryan’s cross. The visitors were finally engaged and they came out to perform with much greater purpose after the interval.
Mkhitaryan and Ozil tested Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan and thereafter frenzied scrambles ensued as the home team protected their lead.
Tempers erupted when Kolasinac turned his back in a contest for a bouncing ball and slammed a shoulder into Schelotto.
Brighton players were furious. Knockaert and Schelotto tormented Kolasinac throughout the game and there seemed to be a hint of retribution about this challenge.
Schelotto was not seriously injured but unable to continue
and, somehow, Kolasinac escaped a second yellow card. The home team thought they had the third goal to make it safe when Murray tapped in from close range but Izquierdo had strayed narrowly offside as he created the opening. Seven minutes of stoppage time sent a shiver of apprehension around the Amex Stadium but there would be no further alarms and the home fans went off to celebrate a famous victory. Arsenal were left to swallow another defeat. They have won only four of 15 games since New Year’s Eve.
They have lost eight of 15 away from home in the Premier League and everything hinges on a trip to AC Milan in the Europa League on Thursday.