Arsenal vs Brighton and Hove Albion. Premier League.
Emirates StadiumAttendance60,326.
Report as Arsenal are held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton at the Emirates Stadium; Kai Havertz gave the Gunners a deserved half-time lead but Declan Rice earned clumsy red card for delaying the restart while on a booking; Joao Pedro equalised shortly afterwards
Saturday 31 August 2024 18:03, UK
Declan Rice's clumsy red card cost Arsenal two points at the top of the table as Brighton came from behind to draw 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal controlled the first half and after Martin Odegaard missed a golden chance to give the Gunners the lead, Bukayo Saka's brilliant play set up Kai Havertz to chip Bart Verbruggen for the opener.
The Gunners took that lead into the break, despite Brighton having more of the first-half possession, but their job became harder when Rice - already on a booking - stopped a quick free-kick in front of the swinging Joel Veltman and was given his marching orders by Chris Kavanagh.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta criticised the lack of consistency in the decision and believes Veltman should have also seen red in the same incident.
"I was amazed. Amazed, amazed, amazed because of how inconsistent decisions can be," he said. "In the first half, there are two incidents [where Brighton kicked the ball away] and nothing happens.
"Then, in a non-critical area, the ball hits Declan (on the back of his leg), he turns around, he doesn't see the player coming and he touches the ball.
"By law, he [the referee] can make that call, but then by law he needs to make the next call, which is red card so we play 10vs10. This is what amazed me. At this level it's amazing."
It was Rice's first career red card and puts him out of the north London derby at Tottenham on September 15, live on Sky Sports. Arsenal already have summer midfield signing Mikel Merino out with a fractured shoulder, having let Fabio Vieira and Emile Smith Rowe also leave in the window.
But Arsenal's concerns became more immediate when Yankuba Minteh burst through on goal, and while David Raya saved his initial effort, Joao Pedro tucked home the rebound.
Brighton had Arsenal penned into their own penalty area for most of the second half but then a stunning end-to-end encounter ensued.
First, Havertz saw a one-on-one chance on the counter saved by Verbruggen and Saka's rebound was blocked. Brighton nearly scored at the other end as Raya saved from substitute Yasin Ayari when the goal was gaping.
Havertz then laid the ball on for Saka at the other end in another counter-attack but his effort was held by the Brighton goalkeeper once again.
Brighton were stunned by those flurry of Arsenal chances and were a little more tense despite the extra man. Georginio Rutter and Carlos Baleba both blazed over as they failed to make the advantage count.
Still, it meant two dropped points at home for Arsenal early in the season. The Gunners drew against Fulham at a similar stage last August and lost the league by two points. How important could this draw be?
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta:
"A very emotional afternoon. We started well, created three or four chances that we didn't convert. After that we had a period of some issues, especially with the ball and regaining the ball. We lost it in some difficult areas and lacked some continuity and dominance in that period. We scored a really good goal in a moment where we took advantage of the opponent.
"Then we go to half time, we come back, we are really strong. Then the referee makes a decision that changes the course of the game. And still like this with 10 men, the team reacts unbelievably well, the stadium reacts unbelievably well and probably we should have won the game.
"For sure because the spirit and how well we controlled the emotional part of the game because it was a really hard one to take. But the team reacted that way.
"We showed a lot of discipline. We reacted to what we had to do playing at home with 10 men. We didn't want to be so deep defending like this, but we read the game and we played the game that we had to play and we should have got rewarded."
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler:
"The Arsenal goal, for us, happened out of nowhere. It was bad defending from our side. Then in the second half it changed because of the red card.
"From the red card, we dominated the game, we created chances. We also had to be honest that we could concede the second goal for Arsenal, we were not consistent enough in our counter-pressing.
"So in the end it feels like disappointment as we wanted to win the game."
Sky Sports' Sam Blitz at the Emirates Stadium:
In letting seven players from last season's contingent go and bringing just four in, Arsenal's squad depth was under pressure after Friday's transfer deadline. Mikel Arteta's squad is good, but it's susceptible to vulnerability in the event of a crisis.
Cue crisis.
In the space of 48 hours, Arsenal have lost new signing Mikel Merino for weeks due to a shoulder fracture in his first training session with the club - and now Declan Rice to a suspension, having let Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira leave. Their next game? A north London derby at Tottenham.
Arteta will have to be reliant on Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard as two of his three midfielders. Jorginho and Leandro Trossard are next in line among the midfielders and while moving striker Kai Havertz back to an attacking midfield role is also option, fellow forward Gabriel Jesus is currently out injured as the back-up to the German.
In any case, Havertz's early season form shows he is best as a central striker, so would Arteta risk weakening another area of the pitch just to plug a hole?
There is the untested option of trying Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jurrien Timber or Ben White - who all have experience as central midfielders - in that role too. But it is far from ideal.
In fact, the whole situation is far from ideal. Arsenal have already dropped two points and it's a potentially weakened side at Tottenham next. Then Manchester City.
