Arsenal suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season as Brighton & Hove Albion produced a ruthless 3-0 victory at the Amex Stadium.
Pascal Groß opened the scoring after 31 minutes before Charalampos Kostoulas doubled Brighton’s advantage on the stroke of half-time.
Chema Andrés then added a third shortly after the restart to leave Mikel Arteta’s side with no route back into the contest.
Arsenal dominated possession for long periods but failed to turn that control into enough meaningful chances as their perfect league start came to an abrupt end.
Groß and Kostoulas punish Arsenal before half-time
Arsenal arrived on the south coast having won each of their opening four Premier League matches.
Brighton’s attacking form had nevertheless provided a warning.
We highlighted before kick-off how the Seagulls’ 13-goal attack represented Arsenal’s toughest defensive test yet, and Fabian Hürzeler’s side quickly demonstrated why.
Arsenal initially saw plenty of possession without consistently threatening Bart Verbruggen’s goal.
Brighton were considerably more dangerous when opportunities appeared.
Groß broke the deadlock in the 31st minute, continuing his excellent early-season form and putting Arsenal behind for only the second time in the league this campaign.
Things became significantly worse immediately before the interval.
Kostoulas struck in the 45th minute to send Brighton into half-time with a commanding two-goal advantage.
That left Arsenal facing a far greater challenge than Arteta could have anticipated when naming the strong side outlined in our predicted Arsenal XI against Brighton.
Andrés ends Arsenal hopes of comeback
Any hopes of an immediate response disappeared shortly after the restart.
Andrés scored Brighton’s third in the 57th minute and effectively ended the contest.
Arteta turned to his bench as Arsenal attempted to find a route back into the game, but Brighton remained the more threatening side.
The hosts could even have added further goals late on.
David Raya was required to deny Matt O’Riley before Malick Yalcouyé struck the crossbar during the closing stages.
The final statistics underline the unusual nature of Arsenal’s defeat.
ESPN recorded Arsenal with 59 per cent possession and an expected-goals total of 1.44 compared with Brighton’s 1.33, yet the Gunners managed only two efforts on target while Brighton registered five. ESPN’s match data also recorded three big chances for the hosts compared with Arsenal’s one.
Possession therefore provided little consolation.
Brighton were simply far more decisive in both penalty areas.
Arsenal’s perfect Premier League start ends
The result brings Arsenal’s flawless opening to the league season to an end.
Arteta’s side had taken 12 points from their first four fixtures and entered the weekend looking to maintain their place at the top end of the table.
Instead, Brighton exposed defensive problems that had rarely been evident during Arsenal’s excellent opening month.
The Gunners now have to respond to their first significant setback of the campaign.
One defeat does not erase what came before it, but the manner of the loss will give Arteta plenty to examine before Arsenal return to action.
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