Brighton shattered Arsenal’s perfect perfect start to the season, thrashing the champions 3-0 at the Amex Stadium on Saturday and inflicting Arteta’s men with their first defeat since April.
Mikel Arteta’s side had stormed through their opening four league fixtures and swept all seven competitive matches this season, but Brighton dismantled that record with a commanding display on the south coast.
Fabian Hürzeler’s players pressed high and penned Arsenal into their own half from the first whistle. Riccardo Calafiori sliced a loose clearance straight to Ferdi Kadioglu, who drilled a shot over the bar, then another Arsenal turnover let Kostoulas fire low; David Raya stretched to tip it around the post.
Arsenal needed fifteen minutes to find their feet. Raya launched a long pass to spring Bukayo Saka, but a Brighton defender charged down his shot as he burst into the box. Calafiori then powered a header goalward, only for a defender to block it.
The Gunners settled and carved out chances of their own: Christos Tzolis chased down a Saka throughball on the counter before Brighton dispossessed him just outside the area.
Brighton struck first. Pascal Gross collected the ball outside the box and drilled a low right-footed effort that clipped the inside of the post and beat Raya.
The goal energized the hosts, and they doubled their lead right before halftime. Martin Odegaard had sparked Arsenal’s best move of the half, driving into the box and forcing a deflection into Saka’s path but Saka mishit the chance off balance, and Bart Verbruggen gathered comfortably.
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Brighton countered immediately: Kostoulas surged forward and curled a 25-yard strike low into the corner to make it 2-0.
Arsenal needed a response after the break, but Brighton struck again. A precisely whipped corner from the left picked out Chema Andres, who rose above his marker and headed home at the far post to extend the lead to three.
With Brighton firmly controlling the game, Arteta turned to his bench, introducing Viktor Gyokeres to spark the attack. Gyokeres threaded a perfect ball over the top to release Kai Havertz one-on-one with Verbruggen, but the German fired straight at the keeper, squandering Arsenal’s clearest opportunity of the afternoon.
Arsenal never recovered, and Brighton closed out the win comfortably. The result ended Arsenal’s seven-match unbeaten run to open the campaign and marked their first league defeat since April, when they last tasted defeat before this comprehensive loss on the south coast.
It also snapped Arsenal’s winning streak against Brighton at the Amex, a run they had extended with a 1-0 victory at the same venue back in March.
Arsenal had entered the weekend riding high, having beaten Manchester United, Leeds United, Chelsea, and Sunderland in the league while also downing Napoli in the Champions League and Ipswich Town in the League Cup.
Brighton, meanwhile, continue to impress under Hürzeler, having demolished Coventry City 5-0 before knocking out Manchester United 3-2 in the League Cup.
Arsenal now heads into the international break to regroup before returning to Premier League action on Saturday, October 10, hosting Leeds United at the Emirates.
