Havertz goes up a gear as Gunners cruise back to summit
Premier League: Brighton 0 Arsenal 3
Arsenal picked up the gauntlet flung down by Manchester City’s early-afternoon win at Crystal Palace by moving to the top of the table with victory over Brighton and now Mikel Arteta and his men await Liverpool’s response in their game against Manchester United at Old Trafford tomorrow.
But the Gunners had to work hard for the three points even after Bukayo Saka had put them ahead after 33 minutes from a penalty and it was not until Kai Havertz doubled the lead just after the hour that they could feel safe. Former Brighton winger Leandro Trossard rubbed it in with a late third.
The result extended Arsenal’s unbeaten record in the Premier League in 2024 to 11 games, ten of them won, and they did it against a Brighton team who had not lost at the Amex Stadium in the Premier League since the second home game of the season and still have hopes of a second successive season in Europe.
At first it looked as if Arsenal might win easily. They went close in the first minute when Gabriel beat goalkeeper and defenders to Martin Odegaard’s free kick on the left but nodded past the near post.
Ten minutes later, nobody picked up Saka’s run and he cut inside onto his left foot but fired well wide. Sixty seconds later, the England winger opted for a pass from a similar position but Bart Verbruggen dived to his left to turn the Brazil forward’s shot aside.
Arsenal’s movement was pulling Brighton out of shape, but the Seagulls had some attacking ideas of their own. They launched a series of slick, quick-passing raids and when Simon Adingra controlled Lewis Dunk’s long diagonal pass with a single touch, his next was a curling shot just beyond the angle of post and crossbar.
However, they were slow to
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