Another Thursday night at Emirates Stadium, another dismal Arsenal performance.
Last week it was Eintracht Frankfurt who came here and left with all three points, this time it was Brighton.
Once again it was the same scoreline, a 2-1 win for the visitors, and once again it was a poor display from Arsenal that demonstrated how the problems of this team cannot simply be solved by sacking Unai Emery.
That same suspicion came in the wake of Sunday’s draw with Norwich - interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg’s first game in charge - but this defeat confirmed it.
Make no mistake, Brighton were worthy winners and it was a story that has been seen all too many times this season at the Emirates.
The visitors had nine shots on target last night, which has become a regular occurrence for sides coming up against the Gunners.
In fact, Arsenal have faced 52 shots on target in total in Premier League home games this season. To put that in context, in the entire Invincibles season of 2003-04, in which Ljungberg played, they allowed just 48 opposition shots on target at home.
That shot count is likely to get higher, with the Gunners yet to play any of the top four.
Of perhaps even greater concern than Arsenal’s defence is their lack of confidence, which was abundantly clear last night. In the first 15 minutes, the two sides sized each other up in the same way Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr will do in Saudi Arabia tomorrow night.
Brighton went for the knockout blow as soon as they realised Arsenal were there for the taking and failed to land the telling blow only because of goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s heroics.
The German was Arsenal’s best player during the opening 45 minutes but he could not stop Adam Webster putting the visitors ahead after 36 minutes.
“In the first half the players were scared to get the ball and a bit scared to move, they were just standing still,” said Ljungberg.
The second half was an improvement for Arsenal - thanks largely to Nicolas Pepe’s introduction — and when Alexandre Lacazette equalised in the 50th minute, suddenly the half-time boos had turned to cheers.
But then, once again, another one of Arsenal’s problems surfaced, as the match descended into the kind of end-to-end contest usually seen on a basketball court rather than a football pitch.
There was no one taking control in the Gunners’ midfield and Brighton scored in the 80th minute through Neal Maupay’s header.
That goal capped a dreadful night for Arsenal, condemning them to their worst run of form since 1977 and hammering home how their problems are deep rooted.
Their defence - now without a clean sheet in 11 games - requires major surgery, while the midfield lacks balance and the confidence of the entire team is in tatters.
Ljungberg, at least for now, is the man trying to solve those problems but last night made one wonder if he is up to the task.
In fact, it made one wonder who would be?
