Mikel Arteta did not hide the scale of the problem after Brighton beat Arsenal 3-0 at the Amex Stadium on Brighton vs Arsenal. He said his side were beaten in the basics, with the first throw-in already setting the tone for a night Arsenal never recovered from.
Arteta's criticism of Arsenal's basics
"They were another gear from us in the basics of the game. They were always first in the first duel, in the second actions, second balls, and they started to play from there," Arteta said to Sky Sports after the match. He added that Arsenal were "extremely poor technically" in their own half and were "not respecting the game" when Brighton pressed man to man.
That lined up with the scoreline as well as the feel of the match. Pascal Groß, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andrés scored for Brighton, while Arsenal failed to score at all.
Brighton's pressure was not just talk from the home dugout. They won possession in the final third nine times, the second-highest total by any side in a Premier League game this season and the most by any side against Arsenal in any game either this term or last.
Arsenal's run ends with a heavy loss
The defeat ended Arsenal's eight consecutive Premier League wins, or seven if you go by the count used by another report on the game. Either way, the run was real enough to make this loss a sharp reset rather than a routine setback.
Brighton also had the game's top performer in Pascal Groß, who earned an 8.96 rating. On a night when Arsenal's best starters were stuck in the mid-6s and David Raya's 5.51 was the lowest mark on the team, the gap in control was plain.
Arteta's warning was the clearest part of all: this was not a matter of fine margins, and the basics went wrong early enough that Arsenal never settled. Brighton have a 0-3 win, Arsenal have a first league defeat of the season, and the conversation now turns to how quickly they respond after the Amex.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 5 outlets. How we work →
