Arsenal back on top with show of steel and style
THIS time last year, Arsenal got the April shakes. Pressure on, minds unclear, all their good habits forgotten as precious points started to slip from their grasp. They drew three in a row, before losing to Manchester City and then collapsed at Brighton, beaten by three goals as their title challenge imploded.
Twelve months on, and the signs are that Mikel Arteta’s team will not go the same way again. Call it a lesson learned, or simply the benefit of experience but they do not look anything like a team about to fall apart again.
They look strong and determined. They look better equipped, with the addition of Declan Rice and Kai Havertz to their ranks adding not only physical presence but enhancing their mentality and with it their desire to win.
Havertz made the vital contribution here, as Arsenal reversed that 3-0 defeat and remained in step with City, who also won convincingly earlier yesterday at the other end of the M23. His was the second of the game, scored from close range in the 62nd minute, stretching the lead after Bukayo Saka’s penalty in the first half.
His was the goal to bring order to an unruly contest, offering the visitors an element of control and forcing Brighton to venture more freely out of defence, presenting the chance for Leandro Trossard to score the third on the break, released by Havertz.
Arsenal might have taken control sooner had it not been for a rash of poor finishing at the start of the game.
Gabriel ought to have scored with only a minute on the clock, from a free kick delivered by Martin Odegaard from the Arsenal left and headed wide. Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen left his line in a bid to cut out the curling cross but never came close and Gabriel planted a header wide of an open goal.
The Brazilian centre half was not the only culprit. Saka darted clear down the right, jinked inside Lewis Dunk onto his left foot and slid a shot wide of the far post. Verbruggen made a flying save from Gabriel Jesus, who then headed wide, a disappointing finish from a cross by Havertz.
It’s true, Brighton do not present the same test they did a year ago. They are by no means as fluent as last season. They have struggled to cope with the workload of their first European campaign, the demands and the fitness issues that came with it, but have some important players back from injury and they were in this contest for an hour.
In the first half, they flickered with menace whenever they managed to play through Arsenal’s press and spring out of defence, especially when Simon Adingra and Tariq Lamptey were able to expose Oleksandr Zinchenko with their blistering pace on the right. Or when they manipulated the ball in to Julio Enciso in space.
Adingra flashed one shot wide, Enciso swept another over after a counter-attack by Lamptey and Jakub Moder drove wide from 25 yards.
Lamptey was hurt on another raid forward, slipping and twisting an ankle under a challenge from David Raya. Twice he needed onfield treatment and could have been feeling the effects when he gave away the penalty, trying to defend against Jesus.
He did get a touch on the ball, and the decision infuriated the home crowd. It was only a very slight touch, however, and did not divert the ball significantly from its path. Jesus would have been onto it and moving dangerously towards goal had he not been felled by the challenge.
Referee John Brooks pointed to the spot and VAR Robert Jones saw no reason to ask him to look again.
Saka converted it with confidence, his 17th goal of the season and his first since February. Still, the contest refused to settle. It simmered, resisting any real pattern, and fizzed at a breathless tempo.
Raya made a fabulous save, leaping to his left to keep out a curling Enciso effort destined for top corner before the interval. At the other end, Havertz failed to punish Dunk and Verbruggen as they hesitated inside their own penalty area.
Gradually, Arsenal exerted their authority. They dominated the early exchanges in the second half.
Jesus climbed above Lamptey at the back post and headed a good chance wide, early in the second half, and Verbruggen made a routine save to turn over a shot by
Odegaard before Havertz stretched the lead.
Enciso gave the ball away, careless deep in his own half. Odegaard threaded a pass to Jorginho who picked out his former Chelsea team-mate as he arrived at the near post.
With five goals in his last seven Premier League games, Havertz is very much at the vanguard of this new, more resilient Arsenal. He has a habit of making big contributions in the big games, as Chelsea supporters will recall.
This goal served to draw the sting from Brighton. Arsenal fans hurled a red flare onto the pitch in celebration. Substitutes came and went and Arteta must have enjoyed seeing his team close it out in mature fashion.
Trossard broke clear for the third, clipping a finish over Verbruggen against his former club. That was the cue for the home fans to leave.
The away fans lingered a little longer to salute their team, back on top of the Premier League.
Over to Liverpool.