5/10 Arsenal’s mistake may have just cost them the title

And with that, Arsenalbidding for the title can be done. Mikel Arteta‘these men are unbeaten in their last ten league games, but there have been too many hard-fought games without much creativity.[layswithnotmuchcreativity[layswithnotmuchcreativity

Arsenal incredibly went into the break against Brighton leading 1-0 Ethan Nwaneri who despite being 17 years old has the world under his feet with two Premier League goals already this mandate.

However, the Seagulls fought back to secure a 1-1 draw after Joao Pedro’s controversial penalty.

It was bizarre, really. William Saliba and Pedro challenged for the ball, clashed heads, and Anthony Taylor, after a period of deliberation, eventually pointed to the penalty spot.

Arteta and his team may rue that moment, but they simply didn’t do enough themselves in the final third. What was telling was the fact that Arsenal only had one shot on goal in the second half.

With Tottenham Hotspur coming up next week, it’s a big north London derby. They, at least, have Nwaneri at their disposal, but they cannot rely on the teenager to keep them in the title race.

More players need to be strengthened…

Arsenal’s best players against Brighton

With Martin Odegaard on the bench due to illness and Kai Havertz completely absent from the squad for the same reason, Arteta had to find a creative or goalscoring spark somewhere.

Gabriel Jesus has been a key player in recent months, scoring twice against Crystal Palace in the league and then scoring another against Brentford just a few days ago.

Nwaneri was another surprise inclusion in the last two matches and he did well.

When Bukaya Saka’s hamstring injury was confirmed to be long-term, there were many question marks surrounding that part of the field.

Gabriel Martinelli tried on the right against Ipswich but it wasn’t much so Nwaneri came in to start on the right against Brentford.

Arsenal immediately seemed more fluid in attacking areas with the lively teenager able to maneuver in 360 degrees with remarkable comfort and ease.

Well, Nwaneri made the biggest impact against Brighton on Saturday scoring his second Premier League goal.

He ran onto the ball from the right, eluded the defense, got into the penalty area and then buried the chance beyond Seagulls stopper Bart Verbruggen. It was a beautiful goal and it was a moment that told the rest of the Premier League that this boy is special.

Truth be told, it wasn’t the most complete game of the young man who made bad corners and gave the ball away in tight spaces. They needed a difference maker though, and without Odegaard or Saka on the pitch, he was it.

So where did it go wrong and who were the worst players in the away team?

Arsenal’s worst players against Brighton

It’s fair to say this wasn’t Arsenal’s day for a number of reasons.

Not only did Brighton equalize as a result of some bizarre officiating, but they didn’t manage to create much in the second half either.

It’s hard to know if the turning point was when Martinelli was brought on for Nwaneri at the break, but they lacked a lot of fluid after that point with the likes of Jesus and ex-Brighton man Leandro Trossard on the sidelines. As a result, they didn’t see much of the ball at all.

However, the Gunners struggled the most in the deepest part of the midfield.

With Odegaard only on the bench and Jurrien Timber suspended, this meant that Declan Rice was needed up front and Thomas Partey at right back. As such, it was up to Jorginho deploy the midfield in front of the back line.

Unfortunately, he didn’t do enough and was often trampled in midfield by the monstrous Carlos Baleba who seemed to have Jorginho’s number

The Italian is often a reliable figure, someone who avoids the press well and breaks up play before passing the ball to more creative figures.

He wasn’t great at it on this occasion. Jorginho dribbled twice and failed to score once on the night. Unsurprisingly, he did little in the final third either, failing to score and making just one key pass.

That part of his game is not that important given the role he played, but the fact that Arteta decided to take him off after just 64 minutes after he had fewer touches than goalkeeper David Raya (58) speaks volumes.

Tom Canton of Football.London gave the match a score of 5/10wrote of the former Chelsea midfielder’s display that there were ‘a few mistakes in the first half which almost proved very costly’.

That pretty much sums it up for the Gunners who are left to mourn what could be the final nail in the coffin for their title run this season.

They are now five points adrift of Liverpool, who play tomorrow, but could extend their lead to eight with a game in hand.

Arsenal have had injuries this season, they’ve had bad luck with penalty decisions and red cards, but the biggest problem of all is that they just haven’t been good enough to string together a really promising run of wins.