Arsenal 2 - Brighton 0: Alexis Sanchez the architect in Gunners victory

ARSENE WENGER marked the 21st anniversary of his appointment beating his 45th different Premier League opponent – thereby creeping ahead of Sir Alex Ferguson in the Table of Victims.

The best of Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez

An instantly forgettable game, settled either side of half-time by goals from Nacho Monreal and Alex Iwobi, will ultimately be just another page in the Frenchman’s ever-growing personal scrapbook.

However, that in itself is no bad thing: it puts greater distance between now and the section covering the uncertainty of last season and disastrous start to this.

Last time Arsenal headed to an international break was on the back of a humiliating 4-0 defeat by Liverpool was already raising question marks about the wisdom of not making the FA Cup final win in May the concluding chapter.

Now, though, the Arsenal team can jet off to their various overseas commitments back in the top six with a realistic chance of competing for even more when they return.

“Our last international break was a nightmare,” said Wenger. “This one was a bit better. I knew that after the game in Liverpool everybody would write us off and I knew it just depends on us, how much we respond.

ArsenalGETTY

Arsenal secured three points with a convincing win over Brighton at the Emirates

“Nothing is permanent. You’re not bad in a permanent way. You can do something about it. We responded in a united way and we have put some wins together and some good performances as well.”

The quality of football, particularly at home, has improved immeasurably. Within the first 60 seconds, yesterday, Alex Lacazette had already drilled a 25-yard shot fiercely against the post and Alex Iwobi subsequently had a sharp shot saved.

So the 16th-minute opener was always coming but arrived so frenetically that even with the slowest of motion replays it was hard to make out the details of what happened. Thank goodness, then, for the written word.

It all started with a foul by Jose Izquierdo on Lacazette. Granit Xhaka’s deep free-kick was headed back from beyond the far post by Lacazette to Shkodran Mustafi, whose shot was cleared off the line.

Hector Bellerin’s initial follow-up shot was also blocked but when the ball dropped on the half-volley to Monreal, the Arsenal defender was not going to say no to his first Premier League goal since March 2013.

Alex IwobiGETTY

Alex Iwobi got his first goal of the season for Arsenal

Brighton defenders urged referee Kevin Friend to consult his assistant, desperate to believe that the initial set-piece had gone out of play. Goal-line cameras showed, however, that the ball never crossed the line and the official was spot on.

Irrepressible at times going forward, Arsenal are not without their defensive frailties, however. A free-kick just outside the area after 23 minutes from Solly March also pinged the woodwork.

However, with Brighton’s Israeli striker Tomer Hemed serving the first of his three-match ban for a stamp on DeAndre Yedlin, their attack was blunted and when Dunk slipped after 33 minutes, Lacazette should have eased Arsenal nerves instead of tamely side-footing the ball straight at goalkeeper Mat Ryan.

Three minutes before the interval, four Arsenal players broke like the Red Arrows from their own penalty area with Ryan doing well somehow to block the shot from Aaron Ramsey that eventually completed the manoeuvre.

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Just 11 minutes after the restart, the second goal did arrive with Sanchez cleverly back-heeling the ball between Gaetan Bong and Lewis Dunk for Iwobi to pick his spot in the back of the net.

Sanchez had a couple of efforts well saved by Ryan either side of a Sead Kolasinac header that was cleared off the line by March. Lewis Dunk’s last-gasp challenge on Sanchez prevented further damage and an injury-time header from substitute Olivier Giroud went narrowly wide.

It was all rather irrelevant, though, with the destination of the points already determined with Brighton manager Chris Hughton saying: “It was a spirited performance – it is always going to be difficult here.

“The only disappointment in the game is that we could have shown a little more on the ball and been a little more adventurous.”

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