Arsenal went down to 10 men and surrendered their lead against Brighton in a gripping encounter at the Emirates Stadium. Kai Havertz and Joao Pedro traded goals in a tense 1-1 draw, with both sides maintaining their unbeaten records after three games, but perhaps holding a tinge of regret over the way the game panned out.
With plenty to pick through, Express Sport presents four key talking points from Saturday’s Premier League showdown…
Arsenal fall apart
Brighton will be a formidable opponent for any team this season but victory was there for the Gunners’ taking. They snatched the lead when Bukayo Saka bullied Lewis Dunk and played in Havertz, who craftily lobbed the onrushing Bart Verbruggen.
Not many would have bet against Arsenal taking all three points when they trotted out for the second half, but Declan Rice’s dismissal four minutes after the restart turned the tie on its head.
Less than 10 minutes later, Yankuba Minteh raced through on goal and saw his rebound turned home by team-mate Joao Pedro. Brighton even had chances to win the game on an afternoon when Mikel Arteta was left to wonder how things went south so quickly.
Two huge blows
Arteta will be without midfield general Rice when his side travel to bitter rivals Tottenham immediately after the international break. The former West Ham star was booked in the first half for a late sliding challenge, and shown a controversial second yellow after the break for delaying a restart.
Rice was fuming after being kicked by Joel Veltman, but referee Chris Kavanagh felt the Brighton defender would instead have kicked the ball if Rice hadn’t sneakily nudged it away from the designated free-kick spot.
It remains to be seen whether captain Martin Odegaard will join Rice on the sidelines. The Norwegian took a knock in the first half on Saturday and moved awkwardly until being substituted in the 73rd minute. Arteta will wait patiently to discover the extent of the damage.
Pedro purrs
Brighton’s floating forward, Joao Pedro, put in a superb performance at the Emirates. Thomas Partey and Bukayo Saka were both flummoxed by his body feints, he was positive whenever he got the ball, and he was in the right place to scoop up the rebound and help himself to a second goal of the season when Minteh’s shot was saved.
Raheem Sterling hope
Arteta raised eyebrows by starting Leandro Trossard on the left wing instead of Gabriel Martinelli. The Belgian has been so effective off the bench, but it didn’t work out for him against the Seagulls and he was the first Arsenal player substituted. The fact that particular position is now completely up for grabs is ideal for deadline-day signing Sterling, who was in attendance at the Emirates and may fancy his chances of going straight into the starting XI.
