Arsenal suffered its first defeat of the Premier League title defence after Brighton produced a convincing 3-0 victory at the Amex Stadium on Saturday.
The result ended Arsenal’s run of four straight wins and came as a major setback for Mikel Arteta’s team, which produced an unusually sloppy performance.
Pascal Gross and Charalampos Kostoulas scored in the first half with efforts from outside the penalty area before Chema Andres completed Brighton’s victory with a back-post header from Gross’ corner.
Arteta admits Arsenal fell short
Arteta said his team failed to meet the basic standards required in the Premier League and described the defeat as a “big lesson”.
“There are certain basics that you need to accomplish in football, especially in the Premier League, that we were very far from,” he said.
“The amount of technical errors that we did, and we didn’t respect any principle of play that you have to, to get out of man-to-man situations. That put us always on the back foot.”
The third goal was particularly damaging for Arsenal as it came from a corner, an area that has typically been one of the team’s strengths.
The victory was also a notable result for Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, whose team had suffered a narrow home defeat against Arsenal last season.
Hurzeler had said after that match that “only one team tried to play football”.
Brighton had also been the last team to beat Arsenal by such a margin in any competition, winning 3-0 at Emirates Stadium in May 2023.
Brighton enjoy a perfect week
The victory completed an impressive week for Brighton, which had beaten Coventry 5-0 in the league the previous weekend before coming from two goals down to defeat Manchester United 3-2 away in the English League Cup during midweek.
“We have to have the belief to compete with the best teams in the league,” Hurzeler said.
Manchester City, the other team to win its first four games, could move three points clear at the top of the standings by beating Sunderland on Sunday.
Tottenham remain without a league win
Tottenham’s difficult start to the season continued with a 3-2 home defeat against Aston Villa.
Despite a reported $400 million summer spending spree, Tottenham remain without a league victory after five games, with two draws and three defeats.
Johan Manzambi, a 20-year-old attacking midfielder who starred for Switzerland at the World Cup, made his first start for Villa and scored the opening goal in first-half stoppage time.
He then set up fellow new signing Nicolas Jackson before Emi Buendia’s long-range strike in the 79th minute put Villa on course for its first league win of the campaign.
Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke scored late consolation goals for Tottenham, which had yet to score in the league before the match.
Tottenham had also suffered an English League Cup defeat during the week.
After consecutive 17th-place finishes in the 20-team Premier League, Tottenham’s leadership oversaw a major squad rebuild during the offseason as a show of confidence in coach Roberto De Zerbi.
However, the team has yet to produce results to match that backing, with De Zerbi facing growing pressure heading into a long international break.
“I was very disappointed, very sad, very frustrated for the performance,” De Zerbi said. “Because we can’t lose this game in this way.”
He said he did not speak to his players after the match because “I didn’t want to say anything.”
Tottenham also suffered an injury setback when Spain right-back Pedro Porro was forced off midway through the first half.
Newcastle and Everton claim victories
Newcastle made a fast start to beat previously unbeaten Hull 2-1, scoring twice in the opening seven minutes through Lewis Hall and Joe Willock.
Everton also benefited from an early goal, with Thierno Barry scoring in the 11th minute to secure a 1-0 victory over Ipswich.
Coventry, the league’s other promoted club, recorded its first win since coming up by beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 away.
