Brighton 1 Arsenal 1 – A title blow, an unusual penalty call and Nwaneri’s cameo

Arsenal’s Premier League title ambitions suffered a bump in the road as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion.

Mikel Arteta’s side who were missing Kai Havertz and also had captain Martin Odegaard restricted to an appearance as a second-half substitute due to illness, took the lead through a smart run and finish from teenager Ethan Nwaneri.

But midway through the second half, William Saliba was adjudged to have fouled Joao Pedro after making contact with the Brighton forward with his head in the area, with the Brazilian firing home the equaliser from the penalty spot.

A draw leaves Arsenal five points behind league leaders Liverpool, who are due to host Manchester United on Sunday, having played two games more.

Jordan Campbell and Anantaajith Raghuraman break down the main talking points from the Amex Stadium.

Why was William Saliba penalised for challenging Joao Pedro?

Referee Anthony Taylor had a think, then another think, before pointing to the spot. If it took a little longer than usual, it was probably because it was such an unusual incident to happen inside a crowded penalty area.

The ball ricocheted its way into the box and, as it arrived at the feet of Joao Pedro, he flicked the ball up into the air, which invited Saliba to challenge for the ball.

The Brazilian forward narrowly beat him to it and knocked the ball past him with his head. Saliba did not pull out of the challenge and made contact, which saw Pedro theatrically dive to the floor and claim for a foul.

That Saliba stayed on his feet and the Arsenal players around the ball cleared played on without much of a reaction added to the sense that something innocuous rather than dangerous had happened when watching live.

Replays showed that Saliba had indeed caught the Brighton man but it is a rarity to see a penalty given for a clash of heads, even though it is fundamentally one player being late and impeding the other, just as a trip is a foul when the ball is on the floor.

William Saliba and his Arsenal team-mates remonstrate with referee Anthony Taylor after Brighton are awarded a penalty (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

There was a similar incident earlier in the day when Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon checked back inside Tottenham’s Dejan Kulesevski, whose shoulder caught the winger’s nose and drew blood. There was contact but there was not deemed to have been sufficient contact to constitute a penalty.

VAR upheld the on-pitch decision despite the protests of Arsenal’s players, who will feel similarly aggrieved to how they did in the home fixture against Brighton in August when Declan Rice was shown a second yellow card for tapping the ball two yards away at a free-kick.

Perhaps they are both examples of unusual incidents in which VAR leaves it to the on-field referee’s judgement up close to the action as there are certainly few precedents to compare it with.

#BHAARS – 58’

The referee’s call of penalty for a foul by Saliba on João Pedro was checked and confirmed by VAR, who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty.

— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) January 4, 2025

Jordan Campbell

Ethan Nwaneri’s short but sweet cameo

With Odegaard on the bench and three starting midfielders less known for their creativity, much of the onus to create chances fell on Nwaneri. But Brighton did well to block Arsenal’s progression in the first half, closely marking Jorginho and forcing the visitors to frequently pass sideways or backwards.

In a scrappy half in which neither side created many clear-cut chances, a moment of precision and decisiveness was likely to be crucial and Arsenal delivered that in the 16th minute.

Their midfield trio’s rotations without the ball caused confusions for Brighton and as Declan Rice made his way to a wide position on the right, with Nwaneri and Mikel Merino on the inside, Pervis Estupinan and Igor Julio were dragged put of position.

A smart exchange by Merino and Rice allowed the latter to release Nwaneri into acres of space, with the teenager cutting onto his left and scoring past Bart Verbruggen into the far corner — a finish we have seen many times from Bukayo Saka, the man whose boots he was filling.

It placed Nwaneri in illustrious company as just the sixth player to score multiple Premier League goals before turning 18 after Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, Danny Cadamarteri, James Milner and Federico Macheda.

Nwaneri was largely marked out of the game from thereon and Brighton dealt with his set-piece deliveries well. He was booked in first-half stoppage time for time-wasting ahead of a corner and having also played 78 minutes in their 3-1 win over Brentford on New Year’s Day, Gabriel Martinelli replaced him at half-time.

Ethan Nwaneri celebrates giving Arsenal the lead in the first half (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Anantaajith Raghuraman

Arsenal struggle without their best attackers

This was the first Premier League game since Havertz joined last summer that neither the German or Arsenal captain Odegaard were in the starting line-up.

They have both been virtual ever-presents when available but the German missed out on the squad while Odegaard was only fit enough to be on the bench after the pair suffered with illness this week.

With Saka out for an extended period, it presented Arteta with another selection headache but rather than moving Nwaneri into midfield as a like-for-like Odegaard replacement, he continued with the 17-year-old on the wing.

That meant a more functional midfielder mix with Jorginho, Mikel Merino and Declan Rice together in the middle of the pitch. Given Thomas Partey started at right-back and Riccardo Calafiori was at left-back ahead of Myles Lewis-Skelly, it was a fairly conservative line-up on paper.

Arsenal’s goal was the product of some great rotations between Rice, Merino and Nwaneri down the right flank, but that was an exception to what was a stodgy display. Arsenal struggled to create, as they have in many games this season, and they failed to build momentum after taking a first-half lead.

It is expected that title-challengers grow in confidence after taking an early lead rather than settle to defend what they have. Jorginho was caught on the ball too many times while neither Merino nor Rice influenced the game in the final third. The balance felt off, with too many players behind the ball and Gabriel Jesus often isolated or having to drop deep or wide to help progress the play.

In 58 games, Havertz has only come off the bench seven times, been an unused substitute once, and haas missed only another three games with injury or suspension. His ability to get Arsenal up the pitch and give them a target in the box was missed on a day when Arsenal rarely threatened.

Even when Odegaard was sent on with 27 minutes remaining, Arsenal were unable to wrestle control of the game. If any team looked like winning, it was Brighton.

Jordan Campbell

A blow in the title race

Brighton forced Arsenal into difficult situations throughout the game, rarely giving them time and space on the ball.

They quickly adapted to Arsenal’s midfield rotations, frequently blocking out any attempts to progress the ball through the middle. Arsenal struggled to create too many chances and that spoke to the troubles they faced, both due to the profiles in their front six as well as the effectiveness of Brighton’s tactical approach.

That meant they could not get the decisive second goal, which went to Brighton after Joao Pedro’s penalty. Fabian Hurzeler had set the wheels in motion from half-time though, with the arrivals of Georgino Rutter and Yankuba Minteh adding to the chaos in which Brighton thrived as opposed to the calm Arsenal needed with a slender lead at a raucous away Amex Stadium.

Gabriel Jesus shows his frustration as Arsenal are held at the Amex (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Kaoru Mitoma also caused problems to makeshift right-back Partey after replacing Simon Adingra in the 62nd minute. Even with Odegaard coming onto the pitch two minutes later, Brighton looked like the team more likely to score.

The draw — Arsenal’s seventh of the season in 20 matches — leaves them five points behind Liverpool, who are set to host Manchester United tomorrow and are yet to play their postponed match against Everton. Arsenal have 18 matches left to play but their hopes of winning the title will look incredibly slim if Liverpool beat United.

Anantaajith Raghuraman