Arsenal ground out another priceless Premier League victory as they ran out 1-0 winners at Brighton courtesy of Bukayo Saka’s first-half goal
21:29, 04 Mar 2026Updated 21:44, 04 Mar 2026
Arsenal ran out 1-0 winners at Brighton courtesy of Bukayo Saka’s goal
Arsenal moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League after Bukayo Saka’s deflected first-half winner saw them pick up their third successive top-flight victory.
This was the very definition of an ugly triumph because Brighton asked serious questions of Mikel Arteta’s defence and the Gunners had to run through brick walls for one another to protect their lead.
Conveniently, Manchester City also dropped points at home to relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest after twice shipping the lead at the Etihad Stadium.
Both results mean Arsenal can now afford to lose at City in April and they could still win the title by winning their remaining matches.
Here are some key talking points from the Amex.
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Away fans’ delight at Forest goal
When news filtered through to the Amex that Eliot Anderson has curled home a leveller at the Etihad Stadium, you could sense the change in tone in the away end.
The travelling Arsenal supporters were on tenterhooks in the closing stages of the match but it gave them a real lift.
Chants then bellowed out from behind the goal and there was a real lift that also had a positive impact on the team.
You could see Arsenal’s players felt the energy and it encouraged them to get further up the pitch as opposed to living dangerously in their own half.
Come the full-time whistle, the away supporters were dancing, singing and swinging scarves once they received confirmation that Arsenal had moved seven points clear at the summit.
Gabriel leads way and explodes
Shortly after Arsenal had fortuitously opened the scoring through Bukayo Saka, Brighton came close to striking an immediate equaliser.
Kaoru Mitoma burst into the box but across came Gabriel Magalhaes to provide an excellent last-ditch block.
Mitoma rolled his ankle in the turf and while he soldiered on temporarily, he could not continue after the half-time interval.
Gabriel was furious with his side’s sloppy start and exploded at his team-mates, urging them to wake up in the absence of centre-back partner William Saliba.
The Brazilian and Piero Hincapie were arguably the only two players that came away with any credit from the first-half as Arsenal looked shaky and were overrun in midfield.
The 28-year-old made an astonishing 11 defensive contributions (blocks, tackles, clearances) before the break as Cristhian Mosquera struggled.
Gabriel was in top form for Arsenal
Arsenal set for triple fixture boost
Now tonight is out of the way, Arsenal will now play before Manchester City in three of the next four fixtures.
The one anomaly is Sunday April 12 when the two Premier League title challengers collide at the Etihad Stadium.
Arsenal play Everton on March 14 at 5:30pm before Manchester City travel to West Ham at 8pm on the same evening.
The Gunners then host Bournemouth on April 11 at 12:30pm, following the international break and another round of FA Cup fixtures, before City travel to Stamford Bridge on April 12 at 4:30pm.
City and Arsenal then meet at the Etihad before Arsenal host Newcastle on Saturday April 25 at 5:30pm.
That weekend, City have to wait until the Sunday to play when they travel to strugglers Burnley, 2pm.
Zubimendi running on fumes
No player in the entire Premier League has covered more ground than Martin Zubimendi this season.
It’s starting to show that he’s got a few miles 311.1km on the clock.
He remains so important for Arsenal but they cannot run him into the ground and Mikel Arteta does not appear to fully trust experienced summer signing Christian Norgaard.
Norgaard was brought in to succeed Jorginho yet he just hasn’t had the opportunities in the Premier League and he’s yet to start a top-flight match.
Given the games are coming thick and fast, Mikel Arteta must find the right time to rotate and protect the Spaniard otherwise he’s at serious risk of burnout.
Bukayo Saka celebrates scoring Arsenal’s opener against Brighton(Image: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
Hurzeler’s fury over Arsenal time-wasting
Fabian Hurzeler accused Arsenal of time-wasting during his pre-match press conference.
His comments certainly received a response from the home crowd, who were onto referee Chris Kavanagh throughout the first-half as the Gunners persistently took their time to take throw-ins and free-kicks.
Hurzeler said on Tuesday: “No one recognises it, but when Arsenal have a corner and they are leading, sometimes they spend over a minute just to take a corner.
“It disturbs the rhythm of the game and there are no clear rules any more, how much time you can spend for a corner, how much time you can spend for a throw-in.
“Therefore we just have to make clear rules, because then in the end we have a natural game time of 50 minutes instead of sometimes 65 minutes.”
In fairness, he had a point and he certainly made that known at the Amex as he exchanged words with Mikel Arteta on the touchline.
Arsenal even made Brighton wait to restart the second half, they were slow to return to the pitch and then formed a team huddle.
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