Arsenal eventually find a way past clock-eating Brighton

 

Arsenal 2 Brighton 0   
Premier League
Sunday 17th December 2023 2pm  

My thoughts on aspects of Sunday’s home victory against Brighton…

 

Let’s start with the ref. Tim Robinson is a relative newbie in terms of Premier League experience, and his inconsistency certainly stoked up the home support, not least because it seemed to be Arsenal who tended to suffer from his ability to see yellow card offences more easily when committed by a player in a red shirt. Brighton’s cynicism went unpunished for too long, and when finally he did book one of the away team, for good measure he booked Mikel Arteta. The son of a guest at the game had some Pokemon cards he had been bought, and I reflected that carding Arteta seems to have become the PGMOL equivalent. I don’t see it changing anytime soon, and given what other managers seem to go unpunished for, it’s a… er, disgrace.

 

Havertz now the preferred choice in the Xhaka position. If Thomas Partey had not been out for such a long time, Arteta would have had an interesting dilemma here, as he did place Rice as the left sided attacking midfielder on occasion when both players could start. As long as Rice is the deep midfielder, it feels like a straight choice between Havertz and Trossard for the more attacking position, and it seems Havertz has got the nod. More games will create more understanding, and the German’s goal to make the game safe in the second half was the kind of thing we want to see more of. He did put a header over earlier, but in mitigation it was a high ball he struggled to get over. 

 

Talking of the Havertz goal. A late counter-attack, the build-up was a joy to behold. Odegaard finding Eddie Nketiah who played a perfect low ball through to Havertz who beat the Brighton offside trap. The finish was just too good for the Brighton keeper. Mind you, much as Arsenal deserved the win, before Kai’s goal, they came very close to levelling.

 

Mitoma torments White. The right back struggled a bit in defence at times, and no wonder given the abilities of Brighton’s Japanese left winger. Now if Tomiyasu had been fit, we might have seen a different story, especially as you imagine Tomi will have faced Mitoma a good few times in training for the Japanese national side. White did well going forward, but of course, we like our defenders to defend a bit too. Just call me old fashioned. And on that score…

 

Saliba is a Rolls Royce of a defender. There was one slide tackle in the second half that demonstrated the qualities of the number 12. Most other defenders would have conceded a penalty under those circumstances but Saliba’s timing is a wonder to behold. I am sure I’ve said before that he puts me in mind of a young Franz Beckenbauer, and the thing that tells you so much is that he rarely has to make a tackle. Most of the time, interceptions are enough, so good is his reading of the game. He has to be in the top half a dozen centre backs in world football right now, and it was a huge relief when he signed a contract extension earlier this year, because you just can’t replace players of that quality. Yes, Saka is special, Rice a monster, but Saliba is right up there.

 

Talking of Rice. There were a few contenders for Arsenal’s best performer against the Seagulls, but at times Rice was imperious, dominating the midfield like some kind of supercharged monster truck. He’s a Bryan Robson for the modern age, so influential. £100 million plus well spent.

 

Ferguson off after an hour. This, as much as anything, was a testament to how good Arsenal were defensively. This highly rated young Brighton striker had little involvement in the game and had to be replaced in the hope of getting an equaliser. And it was a pleasure to see an actual football match after Jesus opened the scoring from Saka’s corner. Brighton’s timewasting was very obvious and first half injury time didn’t really account for much of it. It was almost comedic to see the contrast once they had to chase a goal. A quick word for Lewis Dunk here though. Arsenal might have deservedly won, and certainly missed a few decent opportunities, but in the air, the Brighton captain was winning everything.

 

Emile! It was close, Smith Rowe entered the fray for the last couple of minutes plus injury time and saw a decent chance to score blocked. Fit again, he desperately needs games, but it’s difficult to see him getting them unless there is an injury to one of the front five, and even then, my guess is Trossard would be the one to come in. You feel Smith Rowe is in the last chance saloon as far as his Arsenal career is concerned. He really has to get back into regular first team action, but it feels like it just isn’t going to happen. Shame. 

 

The afternoon was about to get even better. The win took Arsenal back to the top of the table. It was a performance that, finishing aside, was top quality, with excellent passing, movement and pressing to win back the ball. However, with Liverpool at home to a struggling Manchester United, most anticipated the Gunners would be back in second place soon enough. The 0-0 draw at Anfield came as a huge surprise, and if you offered Arsenal fans the same result next weekend when they travel north west, I imagine most would take it. It’s certainly going to be a significant game, and Liverpool are generally very hard to beat at home. Strange to think that a draw could see Aston Villa in top place on Christmas Day. Unai Emery, eh? What might have been.

 

In conclusion. Brighton had become a bit of a hoodoo side in recent seasons, especially at the Emirates. But Arsenal showed a level of quality that made the opposition look like bottom half of the table strugglers trying to play on for a point. It augurs well and apparently Roy Keane said on the TV that he thought Arsenal would go on and become champions. Mind you, between Liverpool, Manchester City and the Gunners, you can imagine where Roy would like the title to go. We are talking the lesser of evils here. I’m reading his second autobiography at the moment and he mentions that Arsenal are a really classy club. So yes, he had his battles with Patrick Vieira, but he’s not bull headed enough to think the club isn’t a bit special, so fair play to Keano. I do hope he’s proved correct in his title prediction!

 

I’ll be back on Christmas Eve to reflect on events at Anfield.

 

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