Arsenal travelled to Brighton with their confidence at an all-time low but hoping to get back on track against a team that have been battling relegation all season, but they couldn’t have got off to a worse start. although Arsenal were doing most of the attacking in the first five minutes, Brighton suddenly took the lead with their first corner of the game. Cech came out at the right time to punch the ball but somehow the 6ft plus keeper was beaten to the ball by a Brighton head and the ball fell to Lewis Dunk who smashed it into the net.
After that Brighton were out for the kill and Gross nearly made it two just 3 minutes later but Cech pulled off a great save for a change. Ten minutes later Dunk nearly got his second from another corner but his header went over the bar. It was all Brighton from then and before the half hour mark Koscielny just gave the ball to the seagulls and from the resulting cross Glen Murray was in the perfect position between two defenders to get a great header past Cech and Arsenal were on the ropes. 2-0 already!
Brighton gained another fee kick just two mins later and Kolasinac complained so much the ref Stuart Attwell had no choice but to book him. Arsenal finally decided to start playing but with little success and 5 mins before the whistle Wilshere committed an awful challenge and was rightly booked. The Gunners looked desperate. But they finally got a lifeline in the 43rd minute when Xhaka had a load of space in the Brighton box, but instead of shooting he struck it staight at Aubameyang who couldn’t miss from a yard out.
Arsenal go into the break only 2-1 down but Brighton had more than double the chances that Arsenal had….
The Gunners came out for second half with a bit more bounce but Brighton still matched them and after ten minutes Xhaka got a well-deserved card as well and we need to be careful with our three most hot-headed players already in the book. Iwobi got a rare shot on target and was denied only by a great save and just after Ozil also gave a fierce shot to test Ryan but the keeper just managed to block it past the post.
Arsenal started to assert control and attacked in numbers but Brighton were crowding the penalty area but when the eagulls got the ball again, Kolasinac clattered Schelotto so hard that was down on the floor for 5 minutes while he received treatment. Luckily the ref decided that there was no intention from Kola and there was no further action, to the annoyance of the Brighton fans.
After that Arsenal still looked lively but they got lucky when Brighton put the ball in the back of the net but the striker was inches offside. Seven minutes of added time were announced and the Gunners were pressing hard. Aubameyang took a pot shot but Ryan was there in front of it.
Arsenal had a much improved second half but Brighton were more than good enough and now have 7 games unbeaten, while Arsenal are …. (fill the blanks in!)
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