João Pedro’s penalty for Brighton hurts Arsenal after Saliba heads into trouble

If Arsenal are serious about winning the title this season then Mikel Arteta may want to rethink his plans for the January transfer market. This was another two points dropped in the race to keep up with pacesetters Liverpool as a contentious penalty from João Pedro cancelled out Ethan Nwaneri’s second Premier League goal. But it could have been even worse had Fabian Hürzeler’s side taken their chances.

Despite extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 12 matches, Arsenal have become too reliant on their prowess from set pieces and were hanging on at the end in the face of concerted Brighton pressure. Arteta – who was livid with referee Anthony Taylor for awarding the penalty when William Saliba clashed heads with João Pedro as he attempted to clear the ball away – has so far insisted he is happy with squad at his disposal yet he surely needs reinforcements in attack given the extended absence of talisman Bukayo Saka and other obstacles that are rapidly presenting themselves.

With the prospect of seven more games to come this month, the sickness bug that again meant Arsenal were without Kai Havertz and could name Martin Ødegaard and Gabriel Martinelli only on the bench was unhelpful for Arteta’s plans. He entrusted Nwaneri with a second successive start on the right flank after the teenager impressed on his first league start against Brentford, while Jorginho – who escaped punishment despite being spotted aiming a kick at Joël Veltman when the penalty was taken – also returned to the starting lineup for the first time in almost a month, alongside Declan Rice and Mikel Merino in a midfield that looked short of creativity without Ødegaard.

Other than the first 20 minutes when Merino set up Nwaneri to score the opening goal, however, Arsenal laboured in attack and rarely came close to threatening as the game wore on. Brighton – who were without their captain, Lewis Dunk, due to a calf strain – have still lost only once here this season but their home form has been patchy to say the least, with Hürzeler saying this week he understands supporters’ frustration at recent results. He was understandably pleased with the way his side responded to going behind, although there have to be question marks over his decision to leave Kaoru Mitoma on the bench until the second half.

Brighton’s defence were caught out in the 16th minute when Rice won the ball on the right touchline and found Merino, whose through ball was perfectly weighted for Nwaneri. He raced away from Jan Paul van Hecke and beat Bart Verbruggen with a shot that the Brighton goalkeeper should probably have done better with, to spark joyous celebrations in the away end. “He’s one of our own,” sang the Arsenal fans.

David Raya needed treatment after being clattered by Matt O’Riley following a Brighton attack but the Arsenal goalkeeper was underemployed for most of the first half as the home side were kept at arm’s length. Even when Simon Adingra was set up by João Pedro after good work down the left by Brajan Gruda, the Ivory Coast forward could not hit the target from 10 yards out. It needed some nifty footwork from Verbruggen to avoid gifting Arsenal another goal when he was charged down by Gabriel Jesus before he headed over from a dangerous Rice corner that left the Brazilian on the ground when Merino collided with him.

View image in fullscreen Ethan Nwaneri shows his delight after giving Arsenal a first-half lead. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Nwaneri had been booked just before half-time for delaying taking another corner and he was replaced by Gabriel Martinelli at the break due to a muscle strain, while Hürzeler turned to record signing Georginio Rutter and Yankuba Minteh off the bench in an attempt to lift his side. The Brighton manager’s frustration at the officials threatened to boil over when another decision went against them at the start of the second half but his side continued to lack a cutting edge. Not unusually, Arsenal’s best hope of extending their lead looked like coming from a set piece and Merino could not make proper contact on a low free-kick from Rice that fizzed across the goalmouth.

But disaster struck when Saliba mistimed his challenge on João Pedro inside the Arsenal area and caught the Brighton striker in the face with his head.

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This time, Taylor came down in favour of the home side and João Pedro dispatched his penalty past Raya to equalise. Arteta threw on Ødegaard in place of Jorginho. Yet suddenly it was Brighton who sensed an opportunity.

Minteh was inches away from finding Mitoma at the back post after a lightning quick break that must have had Arteta fearing the worst. But even though his defence stood firm in the end, this was another reality check for the Arsenal manager.

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