Arsenal analysis: Others step up on Arsene Wenger’s anniversary as Alexandre Lacazette’s run finally ends

Arsenal moved level on points with Chelsea with a comfortable victory over Brighton at the Emirates.

Goals from Nacho Monreal and Alex Iwobi settled the game for the Gunners, as they recorded their fourth win on the bounce in all competitions.

Standard Sport’s James Olley offers his analysis of the match….

There were some short odds around late last season that manager Wenger would never see his 21st anniversary in charge given their failure to qualify for the Champions League and accompanying animosity towards him from a section of the club’s supporters.

However, the protests have subsided for the time being as Arsenal enjoy a good run of form, extended here with a comfortable win featuring some sublime football. The Gunners are now level on points with champions Chelsea, which feels like an achievement in itself given the contrasting opening weeks of the campaign for both clubs. Bigger tests lie ahead but for now, Wenger will be enjoying the calm.

Wenger voiced his concerns after Monday’s win over West Brom at having to play in Belarus and then host Brighton in the space of 62 hours across Thursday and Sunday but they showed little effect from the near 2,000-mile round trip.

Nine changes to the starting line-up was a major factor, of course, but Arsenal set about their task with conviction and purpose to take an early lead and stay in control. Brighton caused a few scares but this was essentially the kind of attack versus defence contest which could have taxed tired minds after a busy week. Thankfully for Arsenal, they saw it through.

Six days after making a vital goal-line clearance against West Brom, Monreal popped up at the other end to score his first Premier League goal since March 2013 – 1660 days ago. Monreal reacted quickest when Hector Bellerin’s shot was blocked following some penalty area pinball to score only his fourth goal for the club in 183 appearances.

That was duly followed by Iwobi’s seventh career goal on his 65th outing, collecting Alexis Sanchez’s sumptuous backheel before finishing high into the net. Iwobi told this newspaper in an interview on Thursday that he needed to become more effective in the final third after losing his place in the team last season – this was a step towards that aim.

Arsenal’s £52.7million record signing had scored in each of his first three League home games - becoming the Gunners player to do so in 29 years – and so it was perhaps something of a surprise that run came to an end against newly-promoted Brighton. He was both unfortunate and profligate before being replaced by Olivier Giroud with 19 minutes left.

Lacazette almost scored with a stunning effort inside the first two minutes, smashing an instinctive 25-yard shot against Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan’s left-hand upright before missing two excellent chances, one in each half. His overall contribution has been impressive to date, however, and it surely won’t be long before he finds the net at Emirates Stadium once again.

The Gunners are habitually weaker without Laurent Koscielny at the heart of their defence and his absence here due to a longstanding Achilles injury which requires careful management would have caused a degree of concern for Wenger.

Although Wenger made nine changes, two of his back three – Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding – remained from the team that beat BATE Borisov on Thursday with Nacho Monreal completing the line-up. There were a few nervy moments in each half – none more so than when Solly March hit the post with a long range strike midway through the first period – but Arsenal stood firm to keep their fourth League clean sheet of the season. And their first of the campaign without Koscielny.