Arsenal 2 Brighton 0: Arsene Wenger marks 21st anniversary of appointment with routine win

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James Benge1 October 2017

Arsenal claimed their third win in six days as they cruised to a comfortable 2-0 win over Brighton at the Emirates.

Nacho Monreal and Alex Iwobi scored either side of half-time for a much-changed Arsenal side in which manager Arsene Wenger had retained only two players (Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding) from Thursday’s 4-2 win over BATE Borisov in Belarus.

Despite missing playmaker Mesut Ozil and vice-captain Laurent Koscielny through injury the Gunners quality was far more than the newly-promoted Seagulls could deal with as they claimed a win that moved them level on points with fourth-placed Chelsea.

Brighton’s ambitions in the early exchanges scarcely extended beyond keeping 10 men behind the ball, but they couldn’t stop Arsenal taking a string of dangerous pot shots from outside the box.

Within 68 seconds Iwobi, in for the injured Mesut Ozil (knee), had won the ball high in the Seagulls half Arsenal swiftly moved the ball to Alexandre Lacazette, whose powerful effort cannoned back off Matt Ryan’s left post.

With Arsenal posing a threat from range Brighton’s defence was inexorably dragged forward, opening space for Hector Bellerin and Sead Kolasinac in behind. It was a foul on the former that handed the hosts the free-kick from which they opened the scoring.

Granit Xhaka’s looping delivery that left Ryan stranded was flicked back into play by Lacazette. Mustafi’s stabbed effort was cleared off the goal-line with the ball eventually ping-ponging its way to Monreal, who slashed home his first goal at the Emirates.

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Arsenal should have had more before the half was out – Lacazette particularly guilty of wasting a two-against-one with Alexis Sanchez in support – but a toothless, strikerless Brighton posed so little danger that their profligacy was not punished.

With 56 minutes on the clock the contest was effectively ended when Sanchez, who had spent much of the previous hour on the game’s peripheries, released Iwobi with a brilliant backheel to whisk the ball away from a trio of Brighton defenders. The Nigerian youngster, who has been challenged by Wenger to add goals to his game, slammed home his first of the season.

Sanchez set himself to causing more chaos for the Brighton defence and could have had Arsenal’s third when he rolled the ball past Matt Ryan only to see Lewis Dunk clear off the goalline. Sead Kolasinac was denied in similarly last-gasp fashion.

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Even a win as commanding as this couldn’t pass by without Arsenal finding themselves camped in their own box for spells in the final 10 minutes but aside from a flicked header by substitute Glenn Murray there was little to truly test the Gunners, who cruised to a victory that at least briefly took them ahead of Liverpool in the table.

A month on from that 4-0 drubbing at Anfield that will feel like vindication again for Wenger.