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Arsenal remain unbeaten so far this season, but the perfect start to the campaign was halted after a 1-1 draw with Brighton yesterday.
The only change from the side that beat Aston Villa was the deserved return of Leandro Trossard to the starting line-up, and I thought this game had a similar kind of vibe to last week’s encounter. Brighton set up with a line of four players high up the pitch whenever we had possession at the back, looking to cut off passing lanes through the middle.
So, we found joy out wide, in particular through Bukayo Saka who gave Jack Hinshelwood a difficult time in the opening stages. I felt like we were building our way into the game, steadily and with confidence, but Brighton were boosted by an injury. It seems strange to say it, but Yasin Ayari replacing James Milner early on gave their midfield more dynamism, and I don’t think we were helped by Martin Odegaard taking a heavy kick on the knee. He never seemed to be quite himself after that.
Not long before, the captain had a great chance to score, but like Saka in a couple of moments previously, the conviction wasn’t quite there in the finish. At the other end, we had a scrappy 30 seconds which saw Karou Mitoma shoot wide, but as we headed towards half-time, we found a way through. Saka was too strong for Lewis Dunk, he played the ball over the defender for the onrushing Kai Havertz, who lobbed the goalkeeper with a beautiful finish to make it 1-0.
That was one of those moments where you expect Havertz to score, but wouldn’t have been that surprised if the ball bounced just wide. I saw him talk about wanting to score 20 goals this season, and those are the moments that will get him close to that tally. It was clinical and efficient, and just what you want from your centre-forward in a tight game.
The main talking point of the game though is what happened early in the second half. Already on a deserved yellow from the…
Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/09/arsenal-1-1-brighton-rice-sees-red-in-absurd-circumstances/
Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2024-09-01 07:31:00
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