The Sunday Times - UK (2022-04-10)

4 April 10, 2022The Sunday Times 2GS

Football Premier League

1

This was Brighton’s

first Premier League

win in the month of

April, at the 16th

attempt

ARSENAL

Odegaard 89 1

BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION

Trossard 28, Mwepu 66 2

A

rsenal handed the initiative

to Tottenham in the top-

four chase with this damag-

ing defeat. They had been

expected to bounce back

from Monday’s defeat by

Crystal Palace against

Brighton & Hove Albion,

hitherto the most out-of-form team in

the Premier League, but the visiting

side scored two superb team goals

and Arsenal, by contrast, looked

disconcerted by the absence of key

players Kieran Tierney and Thomas

Partey. For most of the match they

struggled to hold possession and

create clear chances, only summon-

ing urgency and incision in a barn-

storming finish which didn’t quite

yield the desired equaliser.

Mikel Arteta didn’t hold back,

blaming his team for creating a “cold

atmosphere” in the stadium. “We

didn’t show any purpose or play at the

right speed,” the Arsenal manager

said. “We [failed] to take ownership in

the game.”

For Brighton, this was a much-

needed victory to restore optimism

after a period of gloom. They rise to

11th, and are in sight of a best finish in

the top flight. “We had good moments

of quality, but we still had to suffer,”

Graham Potter, the manager, said.

“But our performance gave us

something to hang on to.”

Listless Arsenal

are caught cold

James Gheerbrant

Emirates Stadium

Star man Lewis Dunk (Brighton).

Substitutes: Arsenal Nketiah (for Smith Rowe

62min, 6), Pépé (for Martinelli 74).

Brighton Lallana (for Bissouma 74), Lamptey (for

Mwepu 77), Webster (for Trossard 85).

Referee D Coote.

Attendance 60,112.

Sánchez

8

Caicedo

7

Gross

6

Trossard

7

Veltman

7

Cucurella

7

Mwepu

8

Welbeck

6

Mac Allister

7

Dunk

8

Bissouma

7

3-5-2

Ramsdale

6

White

6

Xhaka

5

Soares

6

Martinelli

6

Saka

6

Lokonga

6

Lacazette

5

Gabriel

6

Odegaard

7

Smith Rowe

6

4-3-3

Arsenal had lined up in a 4-3-3, with

Granit Xhaka replacing Tierney at left

back, and a reconfigured midfield in

Partey’s absence: Martin Odegaard

and Emile Smith Rowe lined up either

side of Albert Sambi Lokonga.

Brighton gave a debut to Moisés

Caicedo, the 20-year-old Ecuadorian,

who started in a three-man midfield

alongside Enock Mwepu and Yves

Bissouma.

Brighton took the lead after a dis-

jointed opening 20 minutes by both

sides. Potter’s team had been dogged

by imprecision, having converted

only one of their previous 102 chances

in the Premier League, but this was a

lovely goal of pinpoint simplicity.

Lewis Dunk swept a long ball out to

the right wing, where Xhaka’s

P W D L F A Pts

Man City 30 23 4 3 70 18 73

Liverpool 30 22 6 2 77 20 72

Chelsea 30 18 8 4 64 23 62

Tottenham 31 18 3 10 56 37 57

Arsenal 30 17 3 10 45 36 54

West Ham 31 15 6 10 51 40 51

Man Utd 31 14 9 8 49 42 51

Wolverhampton 32 15 4 13 33 28 49

Crystal Palace 30 8 13 9 42 38 37

Leicester 28 10 7 11 43 47 37

Brighton 31 8 13 10 28 37 37

Aston Villa 31 11 3 17 42 46 36

Southampton 31 8 12 11 37 52 36

Newcastle 31 8 10 13 34 54 34

Brentford 31 9 6 16 37 48 33

Leeds 32 8 9 15 38 68 33

Everton 30 8 4 18 33 52 28

Burnley 29 4 12 13 25 42 24

Watford 31 6 4 21 29 60 22

Norwich 30 4 6 20 18 63 18

PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE

Arsenal defender

Ben White,

centre, watches

as the shot from

Trossard, left,

beats goalkeeper

Aaron Ramsdale

to put Brighton

1-0 up at the

Emirates