Arsenal maintained their pursuit of a first Premier League title for 20 years as they moved top of the table with an impressive away victory over Brighton.
Mikel Arteta’s side edged one point ahead of title rivals Liverpool, who face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, and Manchester City after the reigning champions beat Crystal Palace 4-2 earlier on Saturday.
The returning Bukayo Saka, absent for Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Luton with a minor injury, kept his composure under pressure to slam in a first-half penalty awarded for Tariq Lamptey’s foul on Gabriel Jesus.
David Raya leapt across his goal to keep out Julio Enciso’s spectacular long-range effort after 43 minutes, which represented Brighton’s first attempt on target, to protect Arsenal’s advantage before the interval.
It was the in-form Kai Havertz who gave the Gunners breathing space, slotting in from Jorginho’s cut-back to settle nerves among the travelling Arsenal support after the hour mark.
Former Brighton player Leandro Trossard was denied by Bart Verbruggen, but the substitute made no mistake later when played through by Havertz, calmly lifting the ball over the Seagulls goalkeeper to put the result beyond doubt.
Brighton dropped to 10th with defeat as their hopes of achieving European football for a second successive season were dealt a blow by wins for West Ham and Newcastle directly above them.
Arsenal supporters will not need reminding that it was at this stage last season their club’s hopeful grip on the Premier League trophy began to loosen. An eight-point advantage, which they held as late as 7 April, evaporated entirely.
With seven games to go this time, there remains no sign of Arteta’s side falling away as they seek redemption in a fascinating three-team title race.
With last year’s painful experience and another 12 months of progress behind them – as evidenced by the steely point achieved at champions Manchester City last week – the Gunners appear to be getting stronger as they chase the club’s first league title since 2004.
They have now won 10 of their past 11 league games, taking 31 points out of a possible 33 in 2024, with an aggregate score of 38-4.
