Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton and Hove Albion all but ended the Premier League title challenge of Arsenal after convincingly beating the Gunners at the Emirates.
Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan scored for the visitors during their 3-0 win which leave Mikel Arteta’s side 4 points behind Manchester City while having played a game more.
City will clinch its third successive title with a win over Chelsea next week or if Arsenal loses to Nottingham Forest a day before Pep Guardiola’s side plays.
With City beating Everton earlier, Arsenal needed to respond but turned in a lethargic display to fall further behind the leaders.
After a drab opening 15 minutes, the hosts finally offered some attacking impetus with Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka all firing shots at Brighton’s goal.
De Zerbi’s side remained a threat on the counter with Enciso and Kaoru Mitoma causing problems for Arsenal’s defence.
After not heeding the warnings, Enciso put Brighton ahead with a header in the 51st minute to shock the hosts.
The two teams traded chances after the opening goal but Arsenal failed to find a way past Jason Steele in Brighton’s goal.
With time running down, Arsenal sealed their own fate while trying to play out from the back. Trossard’s attempted pass fell to Undav and he expertly chipped Aaron Ramsdale to put his side in the driving seat.
Estupinan completed the scoreline in the 96th minute when Ramsdale parried Undav’s powerful strike which kindly fell in Ecudorian’s path who made no mistake in front of the goal.
The loss to Brighton means Arsenal have won just two out of their last 7 league games which upended their title charge in a matter of weeks.
They next face Nottingham hoping to extend the race for another day.
