Brighton vs Arsenal LIVE: Premier League result and reaction as Joao Pedro equaliser secures point for hosts
Brighton 1-1 Arsenal: The Gunners are now five points behind league leaders Liverpool who have two games in hand
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Your support makes all the difference.Arsenal dropped more points in their pursuit of Liverpool in the Premier League title race after a bizarre incident between William Saliba and Joao Pedro resulted in a Brighton equaliser at the Amex Stadium.
The Gunners, freshly renewed in front of goal, were confident that they could collect all three points this afternoon and things started well with teenage sensation Ethan Nwaneri cutting in from the right and curling home a left-footed strike that reminded of Bukayo Saka’s best goals.
Arsenal took the lead but then settled for it. They took time out of the match and allowed Brighton possession instead of doggedly hunting a second goal. Fortune then favoured the hosts.
Pedro received a pass inside Arsenal’s box and looked to control it with a header just as Saliba attempted to nod the ball clear. The defender arrived too late and headbutted Pedro resulting in a strange penalty being awarded to the hosts.
Pedro converted from the spot and, despite some attacking substitutions from Mikel Arteta, Arsenal were unable to restore their advantage.
Relive the action with our live blog below:
Ignore the “bizarre” penalty decision versus Brighton, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have bigger issues
A game at Brighton that may well be characterised by the definition of “sufficient contact”. That’s one way to describe Arsenal temporarily moving to within five points of Liverpool, although with the knowledge that could extend to 11 from two games in hand, after another debated penalty decision cost Mikel Arteta’s side victory. They had been looking to grind out a 1-0 win, only for a William Saliba attempt at a header to bring a collision with Joao Pedro, that was adjudged to be a penalty.
Arsenal were furious, especially since Saliba seemed to touch the ball first. An inevitable complaint from supporters was that it’s the sort of decision you only see given against their club, but then it was also just a bizarre moment of the type you don’t usually see at all. Arteta wasn’t focusing on that aspect. He initially described the decision as “very disappointing”, before adding “I’ve never seen a decision” - not “a moment” - like this in my career”.
Ignore the “bizarre” penalty decision, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have bigger issues
Brighton 1-1 Arsenal: Ethan Nwaneri’s opener was cancelled out after Joao Pedro converted from the penalty spot
Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, speaking to Sky Sports:
“I feel like I have to repeat myself all the time, which is a disappointing feeling. In the first half we weren’t as intense as we wanted to be. After the goal it was much better. The big word for us is consistency.
“When we look at Arsenal’s chances, they had one [big opportunity] during the game. Of course they were always dangerous from set pieces. We did well to come back but weren’t clean enough in the final third. Against Arsenal, you need to use your momentum to win the game.
“The game we want to play is intense, [we want to] press high. If you want to attack the box, you need to invest in deep runs. We’re not where we should be, but it’s a process.
“We have to accept [the result], keep working hard and do better than we did before. We need a lot of physicality for [our] kind of game. We were not able to hold that physical level for 90 minutes. We’re still working on that.
“It’s not that easy to make the players fitter, but it’s a long-term process.”
Arteta speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live:
“Obviously we wanted to win the game. This is a tough place to come and they are a very good side. We started well, scored a beautiful goal and we were in control.
“In the second half we didn’t really grab the game or dominate enough to have certain moments and be more of a threat in their half. But defensively we did not concede much apart from the transition moment with Minteh.
“When you are playing every three days or less than that you cannot with the amount of injuries and situations maintain the level of performance and competitiveness. Today we lacked it in the second half.
“Today was not about fatigue. it was about the simple things that we have to do in ball possession to give chances and dominate the game in the right areas.”
No wins in eight games
Despite coming from behind to earn a draw, Brighton remain winless in their last eight Premier League games (D6 L2), drawing four successive matches in the competition for the first time.
Arsenal’s bogey team
Arsenal have failed to beat a side home and away (Brighton in 2024-25 – 2 draws) in a Premier League season despite going 1-0 up in both games for a ninth time, with Brighton being the only opponent this has happened against twice in the competition (also 2 draws against the Seagulls in 2018-19 having scored first in both games).
Arteta speaking to BBC Match of the Day:
“First of all disappointed with the result especially when we have started the game quite well and scored a beautiful goal. And then we lacked control and gave the ball away and we didn’t do the simple things well enough to be really on top of the game and have the dominance we required. The game was always open without really conceding anything.
“We are really disappointed with the decision that leads to the goal because I have never seen something like this in my life. He touches the ball as well.
“We did a lot of things not to the standard with the ball. So we didn’t get any momentum, we never got set in areas that after we could generate chances and counter press in the right moment. We conceded one chance when we had 10 players on the floor and [Yankuba] Minteh takes off. I think we have to do much better things than today and unfortunately we lost two points.”
Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori, speaking to Sky Sports:
“I think we felt we could have done a bit better to manage the game and [manage] the goal we scored in the first half. We should have scored another one.
“I don’t know why we made so many stupid mistakes, but the good thing is that we play again in three days [against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup]. Maybe we were too low and gave the opponents too many balls.
“It’s not a big loss. We have to keep going now and win the next game.
“It’s not the moment to think too much about the title. We need to focus on ourselves.”
Arteta on the title race:
“We wanted to win and we weren’t able to do that. We’re very disappointed with the [penalty] decision. Other than that, we’ll try to improve and prepare for our next game.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, speaking to Sky Sports:
“I’m disappointed because we wanted to win the game. We started the game with good actions and a good goal. We knew it was going to be a challenging game.
“We gave too many balls away in the second half and we’re very disappointed with the penalty. I’ve never seen that in my life – and Saliba touches the ball. [It wasn’t one] for me, no.
“We’re playing every three days. I understand how much we want to [win], but in terms of the quality and the consistency and doing the simple things right against a competitive team, we didn’t do enough today.”
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