Mwepu strike damages Arsenal’s top-four hopes
IF ARSENAL ultimately fail in their bid to return to the Champions League they might end up looking back on last week as the one when they blew it.
All of a sudden the initiative in the race for the top four has seemingly swung from the red half of north London to the white. The worst destination of all for Arsenal.
Six days to forget has seen to all that. Two bad and ill-timed defeats along with two major injuries have seen to that.
From a position of such promise where the coveted prize seemed theirs to lose, Arsenal have hit the self-destruct button, a familiar flaw they can’t seem to eradicate, and capitulated.
Perhaps fatally when it comes to their hopes of a return to Europe’s elite competition.
‘What happens now is that we criticise ourselves a lot and get slaps again, and we deserve that because we were really poor again in the first half, and lift ourselves up,’ Arteta said.
‘We know that this road is taking us nowhere. Especially where we want to be. We still have everything to play for in the last eight games.’
Brighton pressed hard early on but just when Arsenal started to show signs of life, they fell behind. Lewis Dunk played a looping ball down the right and Enock Mwepu was all alone with emergency left-back Granit Xhaka on the halfway line.
He evaded the Swiss player and Leandro Trossard made a clever run and was found by Mwepu’s cut back which he dispatched confidently past Aaron Ramsdale.
Arsenal thought they had scored one just before half-time only for Gabriel Martinelli’s header to be ruled out for offside after a fourminute VAR check.
And midway through the second half the visitors doubled their lead when Mwepu rounded off a slick Brighton move that began on the left by firing a first-time, half volley into the bottom corner.
Martin Odegaard fired home a late consolation and Eddie Nkeitah hit the bar. It was too little, too late, for Arsenal.