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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Simon Collings

Arsenal player ratings vs Brighton: Gunners bullied by confident Seagulls as title dream ends in a whimper

Arsenal’s title hopes all but ended on Sunday as they were beaten by Brighton at Emirates Stadium.

After Manchester City beat Everton 3-0 earlier in the day, the Gunners knew they had to win to close the gap on the League leaders to one point.

Brighton, however, put in a fine performance to claim a 3-0 win thanks to second-half goals from Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan

City now know that if they win at home to Chelsea next week, they will be Premier League champions regardless of Arsenal’s result at Nottingham Forest.

Simon Collings was at Emirates Stadium to see Arsenal in action...

Aaron Ramsdale 5

Frustrated as Trossard’s sloppy touch allowed Brighton an easy second. Will be angry at his self for Brighton’s third as he palmed Undav’s strike right at Estupinan’s feet.

Ben White 5

It is not often you see the right-back struggle like this, but Karou Mitoma gave him a torrid time, skinning him on more than one occasion.

Jakub Kiwior 5

Had a good first-half and impressed with a few of his passes out from the back. Caught out for Brighton’s first goal, but he will argue Evan Ferguson trod on his foot.

Gabriel 5

Had a big physical battle with Evan Ferguson for much of the game. Won many of those duels, but struggled as Brighton pushed for more goals late on.

Kieran Tierney 6

Into the side in place of the injured Oleksandr Zinchenko and gave a solid performance defensively. Couldn’t get on the ball like the Ukranian does, though.

Martin Odegaard 6

Probably Arsenal’s best midfielder on the day, not that was much to shout about. Went close with a strike in the first-half and created a good chance for Trossard.

Jorginho 5

The Italian has been in great form recently, but he struggled today as Brighton dominated much of the ball. Taken off with 30 minutes to go.

Granit Xhaka 5

Like all of Arsenal’s midfield he struggled to get into the game. Starved of the pockets of space he likes to get in to. Taken off at the hour mark.

Bukayo Saka 6

Sent a shot just wide of the post late on in the first-half. Had Pervis Estupinan in trouble during the first-half, but faded as the game wore on.

Gabriel Jesus 5

Had one decent chance in the first-half where he drew a good save from Jason Steele at his near post. Had a quiet second-half.

Gabriel Martinelli 5

Lasted just over 15 minutes after never recovering from a strong tackle by Moises Caicedo. Lucky not to be booked after catching Mitoma when going for a header.

Substitutions

Leandro Trossard (Martinelli 19’) 5

Off the bench and was one of the more lively players. Hit the bar, but undid his good work by giving the ball away for Brighton’s second goal.

Reiss Nelson (Xhaka 60’) 6

Was bright and tried to make things happen. Fizzed a shot wide of the post.

Thomas Partey (Jorginho 60’) 5

Could not stop Brighton’s midfield running the game.

Eddie Nketiah (Jesus 77’) N/A

Emile Smith Rowe (Odegaard 77’) N/A

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