Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion's Adam Webster in action with Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
LONDON (Reuters) - Arsenal lost to Brighton & Hove Albion at home for the first time ever on Thursday night as goals by Adam Webster and Neal Maupay lifted the visitors to a 2-1 victory in the Premier League.
Arsenal, who fired Unai Emery as manager last week and appointed former player Freddie Ljungberg as caretaker boss, now sit 10th in the table on 19 points, with Brighton a single point behind and three places below them.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion's Lewis Dunk celebrates after the match REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
"Of course, it's disappointing but we've got to keep on going," Ljungberg told reporters. "The players are low on confidence, I think you can see that.
"We're in a difficult situation. We started the game flat with no energy. It's my job to get them to be aggressive and play with energy."
Brighton had an early chance when Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin brought down Aaron Connolly on the edge of the area, but Pascal Gross blasted his free kick straight into the Arsenal wall.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal's Hector Bellerin looks dejected after the match REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
The visitors poured forward, with Maupay whipping in a shot from a tight angle that raced narrowly past keeper Bernd Leno's far post.
Their pressure finally paid off in the 36th minute when centre back Webster pounced on the ball as it broke loose after a corner, poking home past Leno to give the visitors the lead.
Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette equalised five minutes into the second half with a high looping header from a Mesut Ozil corner which bounced in off the far post.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal's Alexandre Lacazette (not pictured) scores their first goal as Arsenal's Sead Kolasinac attempts to head REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
The home side briefly thought they had taken the lead when David Luiz shanked the ball home from a free kick, only for the Brazilian to be found clearly offside by VAR.
Instead, Brighton's Maupay headed a cross from Aaron Mooy into the far corner past Leno in the 80th minute to give Potter's side a historic win in north London.
"It's fantastic to get the three points here tonight," Potter told reporters.
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal's Hector Bellerin is shown a yellow card by referee Graham Scott REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
"I'm proud of the players. They stuck at it and managed the situations quite well, and played well against some talented players, and a nice winning goal - a bit of quality from us," he added.
"Maybe it gives us confidence that we're on the path to doing something."
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal's Granit Xhaka in action with Brighton & Hove Albion's Aaron Mooy REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
(Reporting by Hugh Lawson, editing by Ed Osmond)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion's Steven Alzate in action with Arsenal's Sead Kolasinac Action Images via Reuters/Matthew ChildsSoccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion's Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy celebrate after the match REUTERS/Eddie Keogh Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion players celebrate after the match REUTERS/Eddie Keogh Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion manager Graham Potter celebrates with Dan Burn after the match Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion's Adam Webster celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal's Nicolas Pepe in action REUTERS/Eddie Keogh Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal's Granit Xhaka looks dejected after the match REUTERS/Eddie Keogh Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal's Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka look dejected after Brighton & Hove Albion's Neal Maupay scored their second goal REUTERS/Eddie Keogh Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion's Leandro Trossard shoots at goal Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Brighton & Hove Albion's Neal Maupay celebrates scoring their second goal Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal's Mesut Ozil and Granit Xhaka look dejected after Brighton & Hove Albion's Neal Maupay scored their second goal REUTERS/Eddie Keogh Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal interim manager Freddie Ljungberg talks to assistant coach Per Mertesacker REUTERS/Eddie Keogh Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Brighton & Hove Albion - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - December 5, 2019 Arsenal's David Luiz looks dejected after Brighton & Hove Albion's Neal Maupay scored their second goal REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
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