Arsenal has become a "villain" in the dramatic stories of the Premier League. They are a team that makes everyone both admire and uncomfortable.
But with resilience and high determination, Mikel Arteta's team still won another hard-fought victory to consolidate their leading position in the rankings.
The match at Amex was ugly and chaotic. Arsenal left the field amidst boos and ridicule from the audience, but the most important thing was that they still brought home 3 valuable points, thereby widening the gap to 7 points after Manchester City stumbled.
It is not surprising that Arsenal players celebrate passionately with fans after the match. With only 8 rounds left, this victory could become a major turning point in the championship race.
Bukayo Saka's goal in the 9th minute was all Arsenal needed to decide the match. For the rest of the match, they played cleverly and pragmatically. The "Gunners" slowed down the pace, committed tactical fouls when needed and took advantage of every trick to protect the advantage.
That was not a beautiful performance, but enough to complete the task. Brighton had many chances and it is difficult to understand why they did not score any goals, but it also showed Arsenal's resilience.
Gabriel played like a wall in defense, while Piero Hincapie fought tirelessly in every challenge.
Brighton once had a clear opportunity when David Raya carelessly passed the ball straight into Carlos Baleba's feet. The home team midfielder lobbed the ball over the Arsenal goalkeeper's head, but Gabriel rushed back to clear the ball right on the goal line in a spectacular save.
Arsenal then also had luck when taking the lead. Brighton strongly protested, claiming that the ball had touched Hincapie's hand earlier, but the referee still allowed the match to continue. Only about 15 seconds after the controversial situation, the away team had the opening goal.
Jurrien Timber passed the ball to the wing for Bukayo Saka. His shot touched Baleba and changed direction, causing goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen to miss, but the Brighton goalkeeper probably still should have done better.
After that, Arsenal still appeared quite tense. Cristhian Mosquera came on to replace William Saliba who was injured and quickly encountered difficulties, even receiving a yellow card after fouling Georginio Rutter.
Once again, Gabriel became a hero when he made a decisive tackle against Karou Mitoma in the penalty area. Brighton played more and more frustratedly. The home fans continuously booed all decisions of the referee, especially situations where Arsenal was said to be time-wasting or tactical fouls.
Arteta's team was clearly not favored by neutral fans. Brighton created many notable opportunities, in which Yankuba Minteh had a dangerous breakthrough into the penalty area but his cross did not reach his teammate's feet.
Georginio Rutter also forced David Raya to fly and save excellently, while Mats Wieffer and Jack Hinshelwood both missed dangerous header opportunities.
It is noteworthy that Arsenal - a team famous for being dangerous in set pieces - even had to wait until the 63rd minute to get the first corner kick of the match. They almost did not create many significant attacking opportunities.
Former Brighton striker Leandro Trossard, when entering the field from the bench, also had a chance to score. However, his shot went wide of the goal in the excitement of Brighton fans.
Kai Havertz was then brought on to replace Viktor Gyokeres and somewhat brought better attacking quality. His most notable shot forced Verbruggen to show his talent by saving at the near post.
The match ended in a tense atmosphere until the final whistle sounded. Arsenal celebrated enthusiastically after the match ended. They understood that this could be a turning point night in the Premier League title race.
