Brighton 1-1 Arsenal: 3 Reasons why Arsenal failed to beat Brighton

On a day when Liverpool and Spurs pushed down Manchester City to the third position in the League table, Arsenal failed to keep momentum in the top 4 race and dropped points at Brighton. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang gave Arsenal the early lead when he curled home an effort after Lacazette fought hard to keep the possession in the 18-yard box. Brighton’s response was quick and clinical, as Jurgen Locadia punished errors from Bernd Leno and Stephan Lichsteiner to equalize for the home team.

Mesut Ozil again had an off day as he was substituted at halftime. The Gunners failed to create a lot of chances in the second half as they lacked a no.10 after the injury to Mkhitaryan which makes Ozil the only creator in this squad.

Chris Hughton and his team were coming off three-match defeats in a row and will take this point in their stride as they compete to stay in the Premier League. Here are the three reasons why Arsenal failed to take three points.

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#1 Bernd Leno’s error in judgement

Leno could have done better in preventing Brighton's goal

Bernd Leno’s early season form gave confidence to Unai Emery’s style of play which had to play from the back as an integral part but as the season has progressed Leno has looked less confident in dealing with the half chances. He was slow to sweep the danger after Lichsteiner’s error gave Jurgen Locadia an open goal to shoot at. Leno could have come earlier or else should have stayed back and tried to stop the shot.

Leno’s ability to deal with the physicality of the league is also a question mark and it looks like Peter Cech will soon get a look in with Arsenal losing ground in the race for top 4.

Allison for City and Lloris for Spurs have proved how important the role of a keeper is for the top class teams and Arsenal need to quickly figure out who their no1 shot-stopper is before the Champions League spots become too far to aim at.

#2 Brighton’s appetite for a fight

Brighton had an excellent second half and

were

unlucky not to clinch the 3 points.

We can keep blaming the Gunners for failing to create opportunities in the second half, but due credit should be given to Hughton’s team who fought and fought hard to take something out of this tough match.

Even after going down 1-0 in just the seventh minute, the Seagulls never lost hope and dealt with the brilliance of Aubameyang and Lacazette pretty well in the first half. The counterattacks from the left side of the pitch where Kolasinac gave them the required space to use were threatening in the second half.

The fact that Brighton had better chances than Arsenal to take three points from the match speaks volume about their spirit and Hughton’s ability to motivate a limited squad. Hughton knows that the real fight for Brighton will be with the bottom half teams but any points gathered against the top ten teams would make Brighton’s job easier in booking a place for next year’s premier league.

#3 Mesut Ozil’s lack of consistency

Ozil struggled to have an impact on the game

Ozil has been constantly shifting from being the most important player in one game to being the less effective player in the next match. He has not found a middle ground where Unai Emery can take the risk of starting him in three to four matches on a run.

Today was the kind of day Arsenal supporters have seen a lot in the last five years when Ozil is almost invisible on the pitch and looked like Arsenal played with ten men in the first half. It seems unlikely that Ozil will spontaneously change his playing style at this age, but Unai has to decide whether Ozil’s frequent burst of creative intelligence can be accommodated given that he fails in 50% of the matches if not more.

It remains clear whether the World Cup winner will be offloaded in the summer, but Unai Emery’s doubt in his importance to his style of play is clearly visible.