The tension didn’t end on the pitch, as Arteta was confronted with Hurzeler’s scathing assessment during his post-match media duties. When told that his counterpart felt Arsenal were “making their own rules” and manipulating the flow of the match, the Spaniard was quick to dismiss the complaints as a recurring theme whenever these two sides meet.
“What a surprise! No. You just go back to the previous games and you’ll find a lot of comments like this always from him,” Arteta replied dismissively. The Arsenal manager seemed unbothered by the criticism, focusing instead on a result that moved his side seven points clear at the summit of the table despite Brighton dominating the shot count with 13 attempts to Arsenal’s four throughout the 90 minutes.
While the debate over the ‘dark arts’ and time-wasting in the modern Premier League era will undoubtedly continue, the Gunners are clearly unapologetic about their methods. As long as the tactics yield results, Arsenal’s focus remains firmly fixed on the title race, leaving the complaints to the opposition.