Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes ended with Brighton as they give away three points
The title race is over. But you already knew then that kick-off in north London was a long way off. What has been inevitable since Manchester City defeated Arsenal at the Etihad now requires mere mathematical confirmation. The defending champions don’t waste a four-point lead, a huge margin on goal difference and a game in hand.
The irony here is that if Arsenal had somehow made the most of a promising first half and kept it in the second half, they could reasonably have believed that Brighton could have been one of the teams doing them one of the favors to prove what they needed. Roberto De Zerbi’s side see no reason to fear the Premier League’s biggest beasts and have the tactical savvy to adjust their game plan. Any team that can beat Arsenal 3-0 would certainly have a chance of taking something from City.
This defeat was so brutal that Mikel Arteta had existential doubts about his players. “We fought very hard to be in the position where we are. Today was a pivotal moment to give hope and keep digging for that dream. If you’re playing right now, you can’t do what we did in the second half. We have to watch. If the team can do that when it comes to the bigger podium, there are a lot of things we need to analyze and think about. It can’t happen.”
He did. For a group that achieved so much earlier than expected to be questioned about their character by their manager, it was a brutal way to end a fantastic season. Arteta and his players will be subjected to the disingenuous chorus of “bottle” a title suit that they and only they have cobbled together. Since the Premier League resumed after the World Cup break, City have recorded 17 wins, two draws and two defeats in 21 top-flight games. Last Sunday, Everton defended themselves manfully and asked all sorts of questions to the leader. They were beaten 3-0 by City. Honestly, Arsenal were right to stay ahead of the steamroller for so long. All the others have been out of the race since January at the latest.
If Arsenal could have defended as they did before the World Cup, perhaps it would have lasted long enough. The loss of William Saliba was profound; they have won less than half of their matches since the Frenchman died of a back problem. Without Oleksandr Zinchenko on Sunday, the Gunners lacked a controlling force in possession. However, without Saliba for months, they have lost the scavenger who can save them from the troubles that must come with their dedication to playing so high up the pitch. Yet this was as much a story of Brighton’s triumph as it was of Arsenal’s desolation. They are now well prepared for a first season in Europe, emphasizing the important decisions of their season. They got Leandro Trossard running north of London, loose pass from him giving them the crucial second goal. Held against his will, Moises Caicedo responded with the authority Arsenal desperately needed in a second half that saw everything collapse.
For the 50 minutes that followed Brighton’s first weakness, the game played where Arsenal wanted. Crucially, they didn’t have much of the ball – the 109 passes they made in the first half, 26 fewer than in any Premier League game this season – but they boxed the visitors in their own defensive third, which made a team nervous who tolerate pressure from their opponents as much as any other team in the Premier League.
Had Jason Steele’s pass into midfield been an inch to the left, Granit Xhaka would have made it 1-0. Had Gabriel Jesus’ low drive squirmed in at the near post then Jorginho would have been rewarded for picking Alexis MacAllister’s pocket in a prime position. Had the thundering strike of Trossard, on early against his former club after Gabriel Martinelli was unable to shake off a nasty Moises Caicedo challenge, not taken a faint deflection then Steele may have been beaten. Shots were hardly raining down on the Steele goal, the title challengers seemed the most likely to break the deadlock.
Brighton, by contrast, only had one such nearly moment but it served as a herald of what was to come. Kaoru Mitoma got Ben White isolated, blew by him and crossed low, the ball flashing just behind Julio Enciso, who could only clip the ball over the bar. This contest would come to be defined by the battle down the Arsenal right. By the minute it swung Brighton’s way. White has never had a game like this at right back. He was ripped to shreds. He was not alone in a woeful second half from the hosts.
“Today we have to apologize to our people, especially for the performance we had in the second half,” said Arteta. “I have to digest what happened, individually look at what we have to do very differently in the next match.”
It was another of the defensive errors that Arteta has so bemoaned in recent weeks that forged the path to Arsenal’s downfall. Jakub Kiwior might be entitled to want a foul when Evan Ferguson clipped his ankle competing for Pervis Estupinan’s initial delivery, which had come from Mitoma’s bullying of White. Supporters might well bemoan VAR’s non-intervention. But was Kiwior really incapable of continuing, leaving Julio Enciso entirely unguarded to flick into an empty net?
At last, Arsenal’s season-long refusal to accept the gravitational laws of the Premier League ended. In that moment they and their supporters seemed to know that it was not happening. Only Reiss Nelson, coveted by Brighton for good reason, raged against the dying of the light.
The fight had gone out and so, when Trossard’s attempted flick rebounded off a former teammate towards Deniz Undav, Gabriel Magalhaes could not quite bring himself to sprint back toward danger. Undav arced the ball high over Aaron Ramsdale. De Zerbi, who had delighted in how his side had infuriated Arsenal supporters, hurtled down the touchline. He might have wished to save that display of exuberance for the third, Estupinan turning in the rebound off Undav’s shot.
It was a much crueler ending than Arsenal deserved for their performances since August. This magnificent Brighton side, though, merit moments like this. The Premier League’s kingmakers is a title that suits them. It was the only crowning that north London will see between now and the end of the season.