Brighton and Hove Albion 3 Arsenal 0
Brighton and Hove Albion fans goaded Arsenal with taunts of “are you Tottenham in disguise?” and “champions of England, you’re having a laugh” as the Seagulls soared to a brilliant 3-0 victory.
Pascal Gross and Charalampos “Babis” Kostoulas both struck from range to hand the home side a 2-0 lead at the interval before Chema Andres headed a third in the 57th minute.
The Brighton supporters then jovially took aim at Mikel Arteta’s champions and the visiting section of the Amex Stadium with a string of disparaging songs.
“Are you Tottenham in disguise?” they asked, with Arsenal’s north London rivals – managed by former Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi – earlier suffering a 3-2 home defeat to Aston Villa. Spurs remain winless so far this season.
The Seagulls supporters then chanted: “Champions of England? You’re having a laugh!”
Former Crystal Palace forward Eberechi Eze was also targeted. “Eze, what’s the score?” Brighton sang before a chorus of “can we play you every week?” rang out around the Amex.
Brighton’s three-goal haul this afternoon (Saturday 19 September) takes their tally for the season to a remarkable 16 – double Arsenal’s number of goals so far – and six more than any other team has managed. Chelsea and Brentford both have 10.
The statistic is even more impressive considering Brighton sold last season’s top league scorer Danny Welbeck to Chelsea in the summer.
The Seagulls ended Arsenal’s 100 per cent start to their Premier League title defence in emphatic fashion, stunning the visitors with a 3-0 triumph against Arteta’s dumbstruck Gunners.
Arsenal arrived at the Amex Stadium with ambitions of equalling a 123-year club record of eight straight victories to start a season.
But that piece of history looked in doubt right from the kick-off, with a rampant Brighton side marking their 125-year anniversary by delivering a masterclass against the champions.
Gross blasted Brighton ahead after 31 minutes before Kostoulas doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time.
Arteta sprinted down the tunnel in the hope of masterminding a half-time speech to revive his side’s fortunes.
But Brighton remained on top after the interval and they served Arsenal a dose of their own medicine when Chema Andres headed home from a corner shortly before the hour mark.
A disjointed Arsenal were never at the races and Arteta will now have 21 days to stew over a shock result which will abruptly end any suggestion of his side cantering to a second league title in as many seasons.
For Brighton, it ranks among the best results of manager Fabian Hürzeler’s career – and just days after a brilliant Carabao Cup comeback to beat Manchester United 3-2 at Old Trafford.
The victory catapults the Seagulls up to third in the table, just two points off the Gunners.
Arteta might have rotated his side for their win at Ipswich Town earlier in the week but here he fielded his strongest side – one that simply could not live with their inspired opponents.
After just seven minutes, Bruno Guimaraes, making his first Premier League start for his new employers, gave the ball away and Kostoulas tried his luck from range.
David Raya got fingertips to the Brighton man’s shot but it was a sign of things to come.
Arsenal were pegged in by the relentless Seagulls and the hosts’ deserved breakthrough arrived, with Kostoulas providing the assist.
Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori allowed Gross far too much time to shoot and his fine 20-yard strike pinged in off Raya’s near post.
A case could be made for Raya being Arsenal’s most valuable player last season but the Spaniard should have done better to divert Gross’s long-range strike away from danger.
The largely anonymous Bukayo Saka fluffed his lines when he failed to get any meaningful contact on a fine Arsenal counter-attack and Brighton raced straight up the other end to increase their advantage.
Calafiori was out of position and, when the ball fell to Kostoulas, the visitors failed to put any pressure on the Greece forward. He unleashed an unstoppable low strike from 22 yards and Raya was beaten again.
It was virtually the last kick of the first half and Arteta dashed for the dressing room before a pivotal team-talk, with Arsenal’s 100 per cent record hanging in the balance, and then some.
Andres, making his first Premier League start for Brighton, all but ended any hope of a comeback when he leapt unmarked from a corner to head home the third goal with 57 minutes on the clock.
Brighton went in search of a fourth and they nearly had it when Pascal Struijk’s header, again from a corner, dropped just wide of Raya’s post with the goalkeeper swinging at fresh air.
Kai Havertz might have landed a consolation for Arsenal in the closing stages but Bart Verbruggen was equal to the one-on-one – the keeper’s only real test of the match.
And substitute Matt O’Riley could have marked a match to celebrate Brighton’s 125-year anniversary with a fourth but Raya was on hand to spare the Champions any further embarrassment.
