The English champion? Are you kidding me! ". That was the mockery of Brighton fans for Arsenal at Amex Stadium.
What is more worrying for Arsenal is not the score, but the way they failed. Two of the most important factors of the "Gunners" could not show their inherent form, causing Mikel Arteta's system to be continuously exploited by Brighton.
When Arsenal won the championship last season, ending 22 years of waiting to return to the top of English football, their success was built on a solid foundation. David Raya brought stability to the goal, the defense maintained organization, while Declan Rice was the center of the midfield. Arsenal is also particularly dangerous in set pieces.
But against Brighton, these strengths almost disappeared.
Rice operates widely but lacks the necessary balance. He often goes deep to support defense, pushes high to participate in attack, moves to the right wing or even retreats to receive the ball from Raya. These continuous movements inadvertently leave a large gap in midfield.
While Martin Odegaard played in the attacking midfielder position, Bruno Guimaraes also did not create the necessary connection between the lines. Arsenal almost lost control of the midfield area, thereby creating conditions for Brighton to deploy the game as they wanted.
Brighton is not an easy opponent to overwhelm. The home team's midfield has made good use of the spaces left by Arsenal. Pascal Gross, Yasin Ayari and Chema Andres continuously put pressure, while Gross had enough time and space to control the pace of the match.
Gross opened the score in the 31st minute with a shot from about 20m. Near the end of the first half, Charalambos Kostoulas doubled the gap with a long-range finish. The Greek striker had too much space before launching the shot, when both Rice and Guimaraes did not have time to approach.
Arsenal entered the match with a significant advantage in rest time, but Brighton still maintained high intensity. Brighton is also not the first time causing difficulties for a defending champion. This is the third consecutive season they have defeated the defending champion, after victories against Liverpool and Manchester City in the previous two seasons.
Brighton once defeated Arsenal 3-0 right at Emirates in May 2023. Therefore, Arteta's team has enough reason to be cautious before the away match at Amex.
But the match was almost decided in the first half. Brighton continued to maintain their dominance after the break and completed a 3-0 victory thanks to Chema Andres's goal in the 55th minute.
If Pascal Struijk and Malick Yalcouye had better utilized the remaining opportunities, Brighton could have completely won with a larger gap. The game on the field showed that this result was not luck.
This is a forgettable day for Arsenal, especially Rice. The English midfielder received a yellow card and then luckily did not receive a red card.
Most Arsenal fans left the field before the match ended, when their team was almost unable to come back.
