Arsenal crush Brighton and go seven points ahead
Arsenal beat Brighton 4-2 in an entertaining game at the Amex Stadium on the last day of the year on Saturday night.
The win puts the Gunners ahead by 7 points at the top of the table over reigning champions Manchester City, who were held down at home by Everton earlier in the evening.
Arsenal romp To an early lead
Bukayo Saka put the Gunners ahead in the second minute after controlling the ball in the box with a deft touch and then finishing with confidence.
Arsenal could have been 3–0 up within the first 7 minutes if Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez hadn’t kept Oleksandr Zinchenko out and Eddie Nketiah shot wide from just 12 yards out.
Brighton eventually settled into the game with continued possession, but barely put Aaron Ramsdale to the test in the opposing goal.
Martin Odegaard gave the visitors a 2-0 lead in the 39e minute despite mis-hitting his kick from a corner, but the ball hit the ground and then bounced over everyone in the penalty area to hit the back of the net.
Nketiah made it 3-0 two minutes after the restart when Thomas Partey found Gabriel Martinelli on the left who drove a low cross into the penalty area.
The ball went past Sanchez who couldn’t hold on and Nketiah reacted fastest by poking the ball into an empty net.
However, Brighton got off to a good start and were rewarded with an own goal in the 65e minute after Kaoru Mitouma curled a stunning right-footed finish past Ramsdale after being set down by Pascal Gross following a superb interplay between the home side.
However, any hopes of a hosts comeback were quickly dashed six minutes later when Odegaard played an astonishing through ball to put Martinelli on target and luck was on his side as his shot deflected straight through Sanchez into the empty Brighton stadium. just went. .
Teenager Evan Ferguson scored his first league goal for the home side to cut the deficit in half and set up a nervous last 10 minutes for Mikle Arteta’s men. Mitoma scored again in the 89e minute, but VAR disallowed it after replays showed the winger’s heel was offside leading up to goal.
Arsenal held on to six minutes of extra time to snatch another impressive win and the London side top the league table with 43 points from 16 games.
The Gunners host third-place Newcastle on Tuesday night, with Brighton traveling to Merseyside to face Everton on the same night.
Photo credit: IMAGO/PA Images
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