Brighton 1–1 Arsenal
by Layth Yousif
at Falmer stadium

BRIGHTON held the Gunners to a 1-1 draw to freeze Arsenal’s title momentum on a bitterly cold evening on the south coast.

The award, and conversion by Joao Pedro, of a controversial penalty on 61 minutes ensured Arsenal remained five points behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, with Arne Slot’s side having two games in hand.

The pivotal moment came on the hour mark when Brighton forward Pedro flicked the ball up in the box. William Saliba attempted to head it away, but the Arsenal centre-back also made contact with Pedro's head, with referee Anthony Taylor immediately opting to give a spot-kick.

Up stepped Pedro to send David Raya the wrong way, and perhaps end the Gunners’ fast-fading hopes of seriously competing for top spot, to add another season — and counting — to their title drought of more than two decades.

Speaking after the match, a frustrated Mikel Arteta fumed: “I’ve never seen a decision like this in my career.

“I asked the boys if they have and nobody has seen it before.

“When you look at the incident, the distance, the player, Joao Pedro touching the ball and Saliba touching the ball. You can see contact there.”

Understandably, Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler had a different point of view.

"It was a clear penalty,” the 31-year-old German said, adding: “It is head-to-head, but if it is another piece of the body everybody would say it was a penalty.

“Pedro places the ball with his head and Saliba comes too late.”

Earlier, Arsenal’s precocious Ethan Nwaneri displayed his talents to the watching England boss Thomas Tuchel, to net his second league goal of the campaign on a freezing evening on the south coast.

On a bitterly cold night at Brighton’s well-appointed stadium in Falmer on the edge of the south downs, in front of  31,714 fans, including the new England boss, the skilled 17-year-old with ice in his veins clinically put the Gunners ahead. Nwaneri netting a superb individual goal, following a driving run and shot that flew through Albion keeper Bart Verbruggen after 16 minutes.

As if to underline his upward trajectory, albeit, never on a finely tuned linear basis, the young gun struggled against Albion counterpart Pervis Estupinan at times, and was booked by referee Anthony Taylor for wasting time when taking a corner moments before the break.

Such an action-packed opening 45 minutes led to boss Arteta sensibly hooking the No53 during the break, in favour of Gabi Martinelli who made his 200th appearance in Arsenal colours from the bench.

With Mikel Merino covering defensively, while providing attacking options including an assist for Nwaneri’s goal, the loss of Martin Odegaard from the starting line-up was somewhat mitigated. Prior to the Norwegian coming on in a bid to stem the tide midway through the second half – even if another victim of the north Londoners’ new year bug saw Kai Havertz to miss his second game on the trot.

The home side could even have won it when Yankuba Minteh’s cross nearly found another Seagulls substitute Kaoru Mitoma at the far post, but the winger narrowly missed slotting home.

However, Hurzeler’s side battled gamely throughout, and quite clearly dominated the second half, earning a point against the Gunners for the second time this season, as Arsenal saw their title hopes freeze on a bitterly cold evening on the south coast.

Arsenal’s failure to collect maximum points means Liverpool have the chance to move eight points clear at the top on Sunday if they beat Manchester United at Anfield.