Neal Maupay speaks “It’s our first win of the year and I’m so happy for the team... At half-time I went to Mikel Arteta to apologise, because I never meant to injure their keeper. I just jumped to get the ball maybe, and when he landed he twisted his knee. I have been through a bad injury myself and I never meant to hurt him.
“Some of the Arsenal players need to learn a bit of humility. They were talking a lot in the first half, and in the second half they got what they deserved. Until the keeper gets to the ball, you never know what could happen, so I just went to get the ball. I think it was shoulder against shoulder - it’s football, and there was contact. I never meant to hurt him and I’m really sorry he was injured.”
That’s such a bonus for Brighton, who were in serious trouble when they went 1-0 down. Thirty minutes later, they had won their first league game of the year and completed the double over Arsenal. We’ll hear more about Bernd Leno’s nasty injury, especially as Neal Maupay then went on to score the winner.
Full time: Brighton 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal were the better team throughout, they took the lead, and they lost. Some of the Arsenal players went for Maupay at the final whistle, with Guendouzi putting a hand around his throat. He might get a retrospective ban for that.
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Neal Maupay, who was already in Arsenal’s bad books after the injury to Bernd Leno, has scored the winner. And it was a beauty. He dummied Mac Allister’s pass to allow it to run through to Connolly, who stabbed it first time round the corner and back into the path of Maupay. He surged away from Mustafi and lobbed the ball calmly over Martinez. That’s a delightful goal.
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GOAL! Brighton 2-1 Arsenal (Maupay 90+5)
Oh, Arsenal.
90+3 min Bissouma has cramp, which is no surprise given he has run about 40 miles during the game. He looks quite a prospect. He jogs off the field to be replaced by the Argentina international Alexis Mac Allister.
90+2 min ... and Burn heads it away.
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90+2 min Tierney wins a corner for Arsenal...
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90 min Three minutes of added time. It looks like Arsenal are heading for the 14th draw of the league season, and Brighton their ninth in the last 15 games.
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88 min Stephens for Trossard, I think.
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87 min Arsenal make a triple substitution. Tierney, Nelson and Willock replaces Ceballos, Pepe and Saka. Brighton bring on Dale Stephens for ... I’ll get back to you.
85 min The impressive March plays a good pass to the underlapping Propper, whose mishit cross clears Martinez and almost sneaks in the far corner. I think it was a mishit cross, anyway, because the angle looked prohibitively tight for a shot at goal.
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83 min Mustafi heads straight at Ryan from Ceballos’s floated cross. A half chance at best.
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83 min Another chance for Aubameyang, who dummies Dunk beautifully 15 yards from goal and hits a shot that deflects wide off Webster (I think).
82 min “Lewis Dunk’s nickname has to be ‘Slam’, right?” says Simon McMahon. “Even a global pandemic can’t change that fact.”
Either that or Indonuts.
81 min Mikel Arteta is fuming because he wanted to make two substitutions when Nketiah came on. It looks like the fourth official cocked it up. That means Arsenal only have one block of substitutions remaining.
80 min Aubameyang’s long-range shot wobbles nastily in front of Ryan, who has to change direction dramatically to push it away.
77 min Lacazette seems okay but he’s coming off anyway. Eddie Nketiah replaces him.
76 min Lacazette is down and in pain after a clumsy challenge from Bissouma. There’s a lot to like about Bissouma, but I’m amazed he hasn’t been booked in this game.
GOAL! Brighton 1-1 Arsenal (Dunk 75)
Brighton have equalised! March worked a short corner on the left with Trossard and hammered a low cross into the six-yard box, where the ball ricocheted around before Dunk forced it over the line from a couple of yards.
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73 min A win today would move Arsenal above Tottenham, and within three points of Man Utd in fifth place.
71 min A double change for Brighton. Martin Montoya and the young Irish striker Aaron Connolly replace whoever they’ve replaced. Schelotto and Gross.
70 min Four of Brighton’s next five games are against teams in the top five. They are in serious trouble.
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69 min Arsenal celebrate their goal with a drinks break.
Nicolas Pepe, who had produced the square root of bugger all until that point, has scored a beauty. He moved infield from the right, hugging the ball on his left foot, and used the defender as a screen so that he could whip a spectacular curling shot into the far top corner. It was pretty similar to his goal at West Ham earlier in the season.
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GOAL! Brighton 0-1 Arsenal (Pepe 68)
Arsenal take the lead with a fine goal!
67 min March’s deep, floated cross is headed straight at the keeper by Schelotto. It was no more than a half chance.
66 min At the other end, Aubameyang’s shot on the turn is kicked behind by Ryan, who was well positioned at the near post.
65 min ... which is claimed with authority by Martinez.
65 min Maupay’s shot hits Bellerin and deflects behind for a corner...
61 min Arsenal will be royally hacked off if they don’t win this game, as they have been much the better side.
59 min Bissouma fouls Aubameyang 30 yards from goal, a fair way to the left of centre. Ceballos touches it off to Aubameyang, whose shot hits the wall.
58 min “Rob, David Luiz is grateful,” says Mary Waltz. “You have replaced Luiz as the most hated man for the Arsenal fan base.”
Can I go to sleep now? Don’t worry about waking me up.
57 min “Good to see everyone commenting calmly,” says Ian Copestake. “I knew this country would come out of all its crises with a love of others uppermost.”
It’s so boring. It makes me want to sleep forever.
56 min A long cross from the right is pulled down by Maupay, who thrashes it towards goal from a tight angle. Martinez is well positioned and beats it behind for a corner.
55 min Bissouma is fortunate not to be booked for a late, high tackle on Mustafi.
54 min Lacazette is booked for a late sliding tackle on the keeper Ryan. It was a foul; a yellow card was maybe a bit harsh.
53 min Aubameyang has a goal disallowed. He was flagged offside but made a point of running through to score just in case it was the wrong decision. VAR shows he was half a yard ahead of the last defender.
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52 min Arsenal have continued their domination since half-time, and a goal looks increasingly inevitable.
48 min Aubameyang’s low shot bounces awkwardly in front of Ryan, who grabs it at the second attempt with Lacazette waiting to pounce.
46 min The second half is under way. Aaron Mooy has been replaced by Solly March for Brighton. Neal Maupay is still on the pitch, despite being wanted by Interpol.
“You said, ‘I don’t agree with that. It was a horrible injury but to suggest Maupay was trying to inflict a serious injury is, I think, absurd,’” says James Hupp. “In legal terms, this is what the concept of negligence is all about. He has no play on the ball. He won’t dislodge the ball from the keeper except by way of a foul that would certainly be called. There is no positive purpose to the foul. Yes, he may not be trying to injure him in a serious way, but the only consequence of the contact is either nothing at all or injury. It’s creating a risk of injury where none need exist.”
Along with about 150 actions in every single football match.
“Insane to deem that acceptable conduct,” says Alan Pyke. “The fact that strikers do it all the time and go unpunished doesn’t make it ok to toss an elbow into the ribs of a midair keeper. Maupay has no chance of playing that ball. And without his nudge, Leno’s landing under his own control. Why are cards never given for these? They are dangerous, dirty plays - the outcome here points that up.”
I didn’t say it was acceptable, I said it was typical. I wasn’t suggesting that Maupay should be knighted for services to snidery.
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Half-time chit-chat
“Rob, come on, your United side shining through!” says Andrew Hurley. “It was not nothing, it was the latest piece of unnecessary thuggery to injure an Arsenal player - Debuchy, Diaby, Eduardo...”
I thought it was a standard striker-on-goalkeeper shove. It was a foul, and a cynical one at that, but the injury was caused by the landing. To compare it to the tackles on Eduardo and especially Diaby seems odd to me.
“That’s a terrible take,” says Sam Hankins. “It was malicious and sly. That should be punished everytime it happens. Leno could very well be out ‘til next year.”
I don’t agree with that. It was a horrible injury but to suggest Maupay was trying to inflict a serious injury is, I think, absurd.
Half time: Brighton 0-0 Arsenal
Arsenal have had enough chances to be a couple of goals ahead, but a combination of Mat Ryan, the crossbar and some desperate defending has thwarted them. The main event of the half, sadly, was a grisly injury to the Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
45+3 min: Vital tackle from Webster! Aubameyang cut infield from the left and found Lacazette. He returned the favour with a lovely backheel, and Aubameyang was about to score when Webster stretched out a leg to concede a corner.
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45 min There will be five minutes of added time.
44 min Mooy’s clever reverse pass is miscontrolled by Trossard in the area. Moments later, Mooy is booked for a foul on Ceballos.
42 min Gross’s right-wing corner is headed clear as far as Mooy on the edge of the area. He drills an excellent first-time shot towards goal, and Martinez - who must have been partially unsighted - gets down smartly to his right to make an authoritative save.
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41 min Martinez replaces Leno.
40 min As he is stretchered off, Leno points angrily at Maupay and has a few words. Maupay looks quite shocked by that. It wasn’t a bad foul, just a typical case of a striker leaving something on the keeper.
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39 min Emiliano Martinez is ready to come on for Arsenal. Leno is being moved carefully onto a stretcher, with his gloves over his face.
37 min Leno ran to the edge of the area and jumped to collect a bouncing ball, at which point he was given a little shove by Maupay, almost as an afterthought. It was the landing that caused the injury, possibly to his right knee. The poor bloke is in agony. BT Sport say they are not going to show a replay, because the pictures are “pretty distressing”.
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36 min Leno is down and in a lot of pain after being shoved over by Maupay. This doesn’t look good at all. A number of the Arsenal players have walked away looking distressed.
33 min “Hi Rob,” says Robin Burchfield. “You said, ‘Trossard plays a nice give-and-go with Propper, and then, from a very tight angle, volleys the ball in the direction of Chichester’. Unless a tremendous amount of spin was applied which will change the direction of the ball in mid-air, I would say that it is in fact heading in an Eastbourne direction instead.”
My point exactly.
31 min: Chance for Arsenal! Saka’s low cross from the left takes a deflection and bounces up towards Lacazette, who improvises nicely to flick a header towards goal. Ryan dives smartly to his left to make an excellent save.
30 min Burn is booked for a poor tackle on Pepe.
28 min Propper drives a pass straight out of play. As you’d expect, Brighton look very rusty in possession.
26 min Trossard plays a nice give-and-go with Propper, and then, from a very tight angle, volleys the ball into Chichester High Street.
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25 min Mooy twists Ceballos one way and then the other to win a corner, prompting some not entirely appropriate oohs from the fake fans. Gross’s corner is a poor one.
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23 min It’s time for the drinks break.
20 min Maupay runs at Holding and drives a low cross-shot that is well held by the diving Leno.
18 min Arsenal still look the better side in possession. Saka moves into the area and tries to zip past Webster, who stretches to make a clean challenge.
16 min “Will Arsenal be playing every day from now on?” says Ian Copestake. “Nice of them to just get on with it rather than moaning about fixture pile-ups as others might have of wont to be (so to say).”
I’ll give you a pile-up, mate.
14 min Brighton apply a bit of pressure through a series of set-pieces. Arsenal defend solidly though, and that’s that.
11 min “Hi Rob,” says Tom McPeterson. “Looks like it could be a cagey one today, but if it doesn’t end in a draw then I can see one of these teams winning this.”
You’ll look very silly when the match is abandoned after half an hour due to the apocalypse.
10 min Brighton are hanging on. Lacazette’s close-range shot is brilliantly blocked by Dunk, who threw himself at the ball like John Terry and stopped it with his bum.
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8 min: Saka hits the bar! What a superb effort. He picked up a loose ball 25 yards from goal, moved infield and whipped a right-footed shot that beat Ryan and clattered off the bar. He looks a serious player, this kid, a potential superstar.
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7 min It’s been a good start from Arsenal, who look sharper than Brighton. That’s probably to be expected, given they’ve already played.
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5 min A dreadful pass from Propper goes straight to Aubameyang, who moves to the edge of the D and slashes a rising drive just wide with his left foot.
3 min “If Saka is going to lay as one of a central three, des it not make more sense to put him on the left, rather than in the midfield monster/destroyer/ ogre role in the middle?” says Charles Antaki. “He’s only a little chap.”
Yep, that’s where he’s playing, wth Ceballos to the right and Guendouzi in what is now known as the ogre role.
1 min Bukayo Saka is playing in midfield for Arsenal in a 4-3-3 formation. And Arsenal almost score after 33 seconds when Aubameyang’s close-range scissor kick is crucially blocked.
1 min Peep peep! Arsenal, in red, kick off from right to left. Brighton are wearing the usual blue and white stripes.
It’s a lovely afternoon in Falmer, warm but not sweltering. It’s almost time for some more football action.
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“Quite an odd line-up for Arsenal, if they are playing 4-2-3-1, with three wingers on the team sheet,” says Marty Bull. “Do you think they will play Pepe in the middle, or 5 at the back with wing-backs?”
I think they’ll play 4-2-3-1 with Pepe in the middle, but that’s just a guess. I’m no tactics tsar.
Some pre-match reading
It has finished Watford 1-1 Leicester in the lunchtime game. Ben Chilwell gave Leicester the lead with a screamer in the 90th minute; Craig Dawson equalised in injury time with a spectacular overhead kick.
“Afternoon Rob,” says Geoff Wignall. “I can’t help thinking that Brighton (and Hove, as I’ve lived in both) could be the team punished by David Luiz’s absence.”
Team news
Brighton (4-2-3-1) Ryan; Schelotto, Dunk, Webster, Burn; Propper, Bissouma; Gross, Mooy, Trossard; Maupay.
Substitutes: Button, Lamptey, Duffy, Montoya, Mac Allister, Stephens, March, Murray, Connolly.
Arsenal (4-1-2-3) Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac; Guendouzi; Ceballos, Saka; Pepe, Lacazette, Aubameyang.
Substitutes: Martinez, Tierney, Medley, Ozil, Maitland-Niles, Willock, Martinelli, Nelson, Nketiah.
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Preamble
It’s Saturday, it’s 3pm and it’s live? Bob Lord will be spinning in his grave. This match between Brighton and Arsenal - and the one running simultaneously between West Brom and Birmingham in the Championship - is the first English league game to kick off at 3pm on Saturday and be shown on television in the UK. To some it’s sacrilege, to others a logical compromise. I’ll level with you: I can see both sides!
The match itself may also sit on the fence. Brighton and Arsenal are among the Premier League’s draw specialists, with 24 between them this season. Brighton are in 15th, two points above the relegation places. Since their 2-1 victory at Arsenal in early December, they have won only one out of 14 league games, with eight draws in that time.
Brighton were only a point behind Arsenal after that win in December. Now they are 11 points apart. Arsenal’s form picked up after Christmas, and they were unbeaten in the league in 2020 before David Luiz’s Chaplinesque display at the Etihad on Wednesday. A Champions League place is not beyond the realms, but the Europa League is a more realistic target. Both teams could really do with a win today, though that hasn’t stopped them drawing in the past.
Kick off Don’t play silly buggers, you know full well when the kick off is.
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