What was your favourite bit of Brighton 0-1 Arsenal? I liked it when David Raya made a diving save landing on his right shoulder, after which he rolled around on the ground for a bit holding his left shoulder and then needed five minutes treatment. And you are trying to tell me there are people out there who don’t think the Premier League is the best, most entertaining in the world?
The Gunners have a earned a reputation for time wasting and gamesmanship this season. It is one thing suffering it on television. It is quite another to sit through it inside a stadium.
At least when watching Arsenal from the comfort of your home or in the pub, the gaps in play can be filled with replays. Crowd shots. Commentators talking. Or going to make a cup of tea, boil an egg or read War & Peace in its entirety. All before the game resumes.
But when Raya is forgetting which shoulder he is supposed to have injured or Piero Hincapie needs 180 seconds to take a throw and you are watching live and in-person, there is no escaping it. No distractions. Just a rising anger, wishing Arsenal would ****ing get on with it.
A matchday ticket in the West Upper for Brighton 0-1 Arsenal cost around £62. That is a lot of money for 90 minutes of football. When the Gunners are involved, you don’t get 90 minutes. You barely get 32 minutes.
Thank goodness then Albion fans are only paying £62 for the experience of watching Arsenal once-a-season. How do the Gunners faithful go through it each week?
“Rather be named in the Epstein Files than watch Arsenal every week”
Seagulls supporters certainly could not understand it. Some of the more creative comments online after Brighton 0-1 Arsenal included I would rather be in downtown Tehran right now than watch Arsenal and I would rather be named in the Epstein Files than watch Arsenal.
I suppose heading towards a first Premier League title in for 22 years helps. Tedious football and acting on a par with the Islington Amateur Dramatics Society might be a price worth paying to end a two-decade wait to be champions.
History though and those outside of the Gunners bubble will consider this Arsenal team to be amongst the least-worthy champions since Sky Sports invented football in 1992.
And champions is surely what they will be. Begrudgingly, you have to admit that three ugly points ground out like this is what wins you titles.
The Gunners were gifted a ninth minute lead by Bart Verbruggen, complicating any gameplan which Fabian Hurzeler might have come up with.
It is easy to imagine what Hurzeler said to the Albion before kick off. Something along the lines of the most important thing we can do tonight, guys, is not concede early.
Don’t give away any silly goals which offer Arsenal a lead to defend via time wasting, guys. Keep it tight, guys, and there is a chance we could get something from the game.
All out the window before the 10 minute mark.
Rotation does not impact Albion in Brighton 0-1 Arsenal
Hurzeler rotated his Brighton side, as expected after the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday. James Milner and Danny Welbeck were rested with Lewis Dunk missing out completely.
Dunk has an ongoing knee problem which Hurzeler says he has been playing through over recent months. Two matches in the space of four days, however, proved a bridge too far for even the Albion captain.
Baleba was soon into the action and could have given Brighton a third minute lead. Raya got an attempted pass all wrong when stood on the edge of his area, intercepted by the Albion midfielder.
Rather than attempt to drill the ball with power past the backpedalling Raya, Baleba went for a scoop over the goalkeeper.
Gabriel managed to head the effort clear. Surprisingly, Raya did not feign a pulled muscle from having to scramble frantically towards his own goal.
I guess time wasting at three minutes in with the score at 0-0 is ridiculous even for the Gunners and their goalkeeper, who otherwise went down injured on three separate occasions.
Baleba also played a part in the early goal which made it Brighton 0-1 Arsenal. Bukayo Saka cut in from the right flank and his shot from the edge of the box took a deflection off Baleba.
Some have said Baleba slightly changing the flight of the ball is enough to absolve Verbruggen of blame. But the shot still went straight through the legs of Verbruggen. Something you would expect a goalkeeper heavily linked with a summer move to Bayern Munich to do better with.
Brighton fans let Arsenal know what they think of time wasting
The time wasting and gamesmanship started almost immediately after Arsenak took the lead. There were breaks in play for Gunners players to be treated so all 10 other players could go over to the technical area for an Arteta team talk.
Hurzeler was animated as he has ever been in the dugout. He frequently complained about the stoppages, clashed with Arteta and admonished Hincapie when the left back needed an age to take a throw in front of the benches.
Every faked injury or delay was booed by the Amex. It made for one of the most raucous atmospheres of the season. And it seemed to help push Brighton onto being the superior team on the night.
Arsenal went into half time with an xG of 0. Showing how fortuitous the Saka goal was. The Gunners were also lucky to not concede a penalty approaching the break when Mats Wieffer was thrown to the ground by Gabriel Martinelli when trying to get on the end of a Ferdi Kadioglu cross.
VAR apparently looked but decided there had been no foul. A decision which just added to Brighton fan fury along with the officials doing nothing to prevent all the time wasting.
Albion find no way through in second half
Georginio Rutter with his new Shirley from EastEnders inspired haircut was first to test Raya in the second half. A low volley was pushed away by Raya in the save which resulted in him claiming that magnificent injury to his right shoulder. Or was it his left?
Substitute Yankuba Minteh made it to the left-hand by-line after speeding past Hincapie, only for his low cross to be cleared by a certain Leandro Trossard before it could reach Rutter.
The best Brighton chance of the arguably the entire game came to Wieffer midway through. Minteh this time popped up on the right and delivered a cross on a plate for the Dutchman.
Wieffer failed to get anywhere near enough contact on his header, succeeding only in glancing the ball straight into the arms of the grateful Raya.
Verbruggen saved at his near post from Kai Havertz late on as Arsenal limped onto a final xG of 0.2 from open play. Not that a lack of chances mattered to the Gunners.
One defensive mistake and a lot of slowing the game down was all they needed to move seven points clear of Manchester City at the top of the table and take a huge step towards the title.
Modern day Premier League football, eh? What entertainment. Cannot beat it.
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About the Author
Scott attended his first Brighton game aged two-years-old at the Goldstone Ground. He has since watched over 1,100 matches across four home grounds, four divisions and feels his parents should be charged with child cruelty for inflicting a lifetime of supporting the Albion on him.