Coach Mikel Arteta and his team know that they have a chance to top the table if they win against Brighton in round 17 of the Premier League. The reason is that Man City was suddenly held to a draw by Crsytal Palace, and Liverpool had a later match against MU in the same round.
That’s why the “Gunners” pressed the field from the beginning with the determination to win all 3 points. Arsenal’s moves were flexible with a variety of attacks, forcing Brighton’s defense to retreat deep to defend quite hard. Brighton is usually very good at deploying the ball and escaping pressure, but this time they did not have much of the ball to carry out their offensive ideas.
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During the first half, the ball mostly hovered in Brighton’s half. Coach Mikel Arteta’s students controlled the ball 58%, launched 15 shots and hit the target 3 times. In contrast, Brighton did not have any finishing shots.
However, Arsenal’s attack lacked a bit of precision to score a goal. One of the most unfortunate misses came in the 32nd minute. From Odegaard’s release, Saka penetrated the penalty area and released the second line smoothly, but Martinelli shot over the bar even though the goal was empty.
Arsenal dominated, but Brighton’s defense deserved praise. They played focused to neutralize the home team’s high-speed combinations. If Mikel Arteta’s strikers have a chance to shoot, the shooting angle will also be significantly narrowed. The first half ended with a 0-0 draw.
In the second half, Arsenal continued to press and surround Brighton. Their efforts were rewarded in the 53rd minute. After the home player’s corner kick, Van Hecke headed the ball, causing goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen’s attempt to block it to become unsuccessful. The ball came to Gabriel Jesus’ right position and this player easily headed into the empty net.
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After the loss, “Seagulls” tried to attack to find an equalizer but failed. On the contrary, Arsenal continued to maintain strong pressure, launching a total of 26 shots and having 9 shots on target.
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The goal helped Arsenal play more excitedly. They did not let their opponents have much time to hold the ball, while launching a very quick attack towards the Brighton penalty area. However, they failed to take advantage of the opportunities created.
In the 83rd minute, Brighton almost equalized. Kaoru Mitoma escaped down the left wing and flicked the outside of his cheek to let Pascal Gross finish from close range. However, the German player missed the post.
5 minutes later, the “Gunners” doubled the gap. That was the ball where Kai Havertz ran and finished accurately after Eddie Nketiah’s pass.
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In the end, Arsenal won 2-0 against Brighton. The results help coach Mikel Arteta and his team temporarily occupy the top of the Premier League with 39 points after 17 matches. At this time, they are 5 points ahead of Man City in 4th place.
In the match at the same time, Aston Villa came back to beat Brentford 2-1 to climb to 2nd place, pushing Liverpool to 3rd. Coach Unai Emery’s team maintained their high form, only 1 point behind Arsenal and 1 point ahead of Liverpool. .
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