Declan Rice’s red card left Arsenal in all kinds of bother as they drew with Brighton at the Emirates Stadium. A first half goal from Kai Havertz was nullified as much by his teammate’s dismissal as it was by the eventual João Pedro equaliser.
Without their lynchpin, the Gunners were a shadow of their usual selves, unable to get out of their own defensive third for much of the second half. But possession doesn’t win games; goals do, and Brighton couldn’t quite turn their dominance into three points.
As it happened
It’s rare that Arsenal are chasing a game, but today they were lost. By the end of the game, they could hardly complete a pass let alone create a chance. It didn’t look like it would go that way from the start, though. In the early stages, this was business as usual.
They started this game with a point to prove. They didn’t so much knock on Brighton’s door as they did hammer it in. How they didn’t smash it to smithereens is a wonder.
Dealing with Bukayo Saka was always going to be a challenge for 19-year-old Jack Hinshelwood, but he perhaps didn’t realise it would be this tough. If he wasn’t being turned inside out by flurries of stepovers or a perfectly architected drop of the shoulder, he was chasing shadows and missing runs.
The first two chances of the game reflected that; at first, Saka twisted and turned his way to a close range shot which drew a particularly quick Bart Verbruggen reaction. Then, Martin Ødegaard dinked the most delicate ball into the area for Saka to chase, but his volley was too tame and too central. Both times, it was Hinshelwood losing his man.
Embed from Getty ImagesThose chances were both in the opening ten minutes, and that was perhaps when the Gunners were at their most potent. Brighton couldn’t string a pass together without Ben White or Thomas Partey rushing in to take the ball back. It was a ruthless display of intent, but it could yield no goal.
Brighton would get respite eventually, but there was a cruel twist; the game only calmed down when James Milner was forcibly substituted in the fifteenth minute after injury. He’s only 16 games off becoming the Premier League’s top appearance maker. He made his league debut when his now manager Fabian Hürzeler was only nine years old. Today, though, Mr. Consistent was forced off.
But it’s what Brighton needed. The game cooled down and they seized their opportunity to keep the ball. Between the 24th and 28th minute, their possession sat at 80%.
However, keeping the ball only does so much. While they had the ball, they could create only one shot – a more than ambitious Kauro Mitoma volley which flew wide of David Raya’s far post. Against an Everton or a Manchester United, you can get away with that. Against Arsenal, you simply cannot. Brighton were on top, but they weren’t the team to break the deadlock.
An aerial duel between 6’4” Lewis Dunk and 5’10” Bukayo Saka should, you’d think, have only one possible outcome. You’d think. That’s not what happened in the 38th minute though. Saka won the battle, played Kai Havertz in behind and it was at this point the outcome looked inevitable.
And so it was. Verbruggen rushed out to meet the storming Havertz, but he didn’t come quickly enough. The German couldn’t go round him, so he went over him. It was a lovely chip, hanging in the air for what felt like an eternity before nestling in the back of a gaping net. Arsenal took the lead, as they had been promising to do.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat they hadn’t promised to do was shoot themselves in the foot. Right at the end of the half, Declan Rice wiped out Joel Veltman with a late, high challenge. Contact was minimal, but it was dangerous. It was an orange card if ever there was one, but of course there isn’t one, so yellow would have to do.
At the start of the second half, the pair would meet again. Rice was the instigator once more, fouling his Dutch counterpart fairly innocuously, but then making the crucial mistake of kicking the ball away just as the free kick was about to be taken. Veltman’s boot met Rice, who fell to the floor expecting to see Brighton fall to ten men. But the red card didn’t quite go the way he wanted. Kicking the ball away is a yellow card whether you like it or not, so it was he who had to walk. A first career red card for Declan Rice, and a suddenly uphill climb for his ten teammates.
No surprise what happened next. Brighton seized their opportunity. The ball hardly touched an Arsenal boot for the next ten minutes. The Seagulls weren’t following the trawler, they were pursuing it with vigour. When a chance did come, they made the most of it.
Dunk may have made the mistake that led to Havertz’s goal, but he made up for it and some in the 58th minute. Just in his own half, he channelled his inner Pirlo to spray a gorgeous through ball towards Yankuba Minteh. It was defence splitting – neither William Saliba nor Gabriel quite knew who should close him down. In the end, it was a weak attempt to snatch back the ball from the Brazilian. Minteh held him off, took his shot and watched Raya react well to make the save.
But the save didn’t go wide of the post. All he could do was push the ball back into the area where João Pedro was waiting to tap the loose ball home. Brighton were level – not just level, but well on top. Arsenal had to react, and they did immediately, introducing Ricardo Calafiori for Leandro Trossard, the Belgian now a luxury Mikel Arteta couldn’t afford.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Emirates Stadium was volatile. Hostile, even. An agitated crowd goaded every Brighton attack and roared forward every Arsenal touch. It felt more like a Roman amphitheatre. There was something distinctly primal about the atmosphere. It wasn’t a polished Premier League package; it was a fight to the death. Blow for blow.
That’s how it followed. First Arsenal had big chances, Havertz and Saka denied by the legs of Verbruggen and the stature of Jan van Hecke respectively. Then it was Brighton’s turn, Yasin Ayari crashing a low effort straight into Raya’s arms. Then Saka again, latching onto a Havertz cross but stretching too much to put enough power to trouble the Dutch keeper. All of that was in the space of two explosive minutes.
Rice’s red card destroyed Arsenal’s ability to control the game. All their chances were on the break; all their opponents’ chances after extended periods of play. From the 80th minute onwards, though, the hosts looked lost. Intricate passing plays were replaced by Allardyce-esque hoofs. Saka would occasionally break only to discover no one alongside him. Arsenal were unequivocally penned in.
A man up and dominant to the nth degree, Brighton couldn’t find that winner. Early on, it looked like it would be them happy for a point, but come full time they would have wanted more. Arsenal were hanging on for dear life. How often was that happen?
Against ten men or otherwise, Hürzeler’s side were impressive. It is no mean feat to make Arsenal work as hard as they did today; seldom are they nullified completely, but that’s what happened in the second half. Unbeaten going into the international break, they look a threat for the European spots.
For Mikel Arteta and Arsenal, though, this was one big missed opportunity. Their next two games are Spurs and Manchester City, both away. This was a game they really could’ve done with three points from, but in the end they were nowhere near. They were under siege, and really quite lucky to come away with any share of the spoils. No need to man the panic stations yet though; these are early days.
The lineups
ARS: Raya; Timber, Gabriel, Saliba, White; Rice, Partey, Ødegaard; Trossard, Havertz, Saka
BHA: Verbruggen; Hinshelwood, Dunk, Van Hecke, Veltman; Baleba, Milner; Mitoma, Pedro, Minteh; Welbeck