Brighton and Hove Albion 0 Arsenal 1
Bukayo Saka scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal scraped a win over Brighton and Hove Albion and extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points.
Albion had more of the ball, more shots and more corner kicks – as well picking up more yellow cards – but Saka’s goal after nine minutes proved decisive.
This was a potentially pivotal night in the title race although Mikel Arteta’s side were a long way from being at their best.
They were sloppy and slow in attack, careless with the ball and struggled to prevent Brighton from playing through them in midfield.
A more optimistic reading would be that, despite being unable to find any fluency, they dug in doggedly and held off opponents who were superior to them in almost every area.
Most crucially of all, this was a third league win in a row and, on a night when Manchester City drew at home with Nottingham Forest, it was one more fixture crossed off in their push for the title.
They won without the injured William Saliba, absent with an ankle problem, while Martin Odegaard had also lost the race to be fit in time. Even so, this was a poor albeit winning display.
And the winner owed more to a stroke of good fortune than skill. Saka played what appeared to be a cross. It took a nick off Carlos Baleba and went through the legs of goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen who seemed bamboozled by the deflection.
It would not be an overstatement to say that Brighton dominated for significant periods, backed by a vociferous crowd who grew incensed with Arsenal’s determination to delay restarts and slow the game down at every opportunity.
Arsenal almost suffered a calamity inside two minutes. David Raya blindly passed the ball straight to the feet of Baleba who lobbed it back goalwards but with too little heft to make it past Gabriel who saved the Gunners’ blushes.
The strangest of goals gave Arsenal the lead. Brighton lost possession in midfield and the ball was funnelled up their right side to where Jurrien Timber had space to move it to Saka.
Cutting in and striking – or was it meant to be a cross? – his effort looked bound straight for Verbruggen who seemed foxed by the merest of deflections off Baleba, allowing the ball through his legs and in.
Arsenal came under considerable pressure around their own box after going in front. Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter tried shooting from good positions but were blocked.
The league leaders stood up to the challenge well in the absence of their most influential defender.
There was a worry for Arteta when Martin Zubimendi required lengthy treatment after turning his ankle late in the first half but the midfielder was able to continue.
Brighton supporters grew increasingly impatient as the half wore on with the time that Arsenal were taking over free-kicks – and Fabian Hürzeler vented his frustration with the visitors’ languid approach to restarting play.
Ten minutes into the second half, Arsenal carved out their first chance since Saka’s goal but this time the 24-year-old England international fired over from inside the box.
Kai Havertz almost doubled the lead on 88 minutes but Verbruggen pulled off what was probably the save of the match. Earlier, his appeals for a penalty went unheeded.
At the other end, Gabriel Martinelli appeared to take Mats Wieffer to the ground in the box as a cross came in from the left but the ball was cleared and play went on uninterrupted.
Mostly, Brighton looked the more dangerous side and Rutter drew a good one-handed stop from Raya who then evoked further ire by calling for the Arsenal medics.
Wieffer wasted a chance to blow the title race wide open with a tame header straight at the goalkeeper when left free in the box as Arsenal held on.
And in added time Yasin Ayari, Yankuba Minteh and Pascal Gross all played the ball into the box but Brighton were unable to convert their approaches into a goal.
Arsenal remain top of the Premier League, with 67 points from 30 matches. They are seven points clear of Manchester City in second although City have a game in hand and the two sides are due to face each other in the league at the Emirates next month.
Brighton are 13th, with 37 points from 29 games, and face 11th-place Sunderland next, also at the Amex, at 3pm on Saturday 14 March.
