Arsenal's Premier League title defence hit a major stumbling block as they suffered their first loss of the season, a resounding 3-0 defeat away at Brighton. After four straight wins, the heavy loss at the Amex Stadium on Saturday came out of nowhere. Conceding the third goal from a corner — typically an area of strength for the Gunners — summed up an unusually sloppy performance from Mikel Arteta's team.

Pascal Gross and Charalampos Kostoulas scored in the first half with shots from outside the penalty area, before Chema Andres completed the win with a header at the back post from Gross's corner. For Arsenal, conceding from set pieces is rare, as they are usually dominant in the air and well-organised defensively. This lapse was a clear reflection of their uncharacteristic disarray.

The victory will have been especially sweet for Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, who said "only one team tried to play football" after his team's narrow home loss to Arsenal last season. Now, his side has emphatically proven their point and secured a memorable win.

Arsenal have often struggled against Brighton, which was the last team to inflict such a heavy defeat on the Gunners in any competition — winning 3-0 at Emirates Stadium in May 2023. This latest result continued that troubling trend for the north London club.

It completed a brilliant week for Brighton, after beating Coventry 5-0 in the league last weekend and coming from two goals down in midweek to beat Manchester United 3-2 away in the English League Cup. The Seagulls' morale is soaring after these impressive results.

Manchester City — the other team to win their first four games — can now move three points clear in the standings by beating Sunderland on Sunday. This sets the stage for an even more intense title race as the season progresses.

Source: www.aljazeera.com