It wasn’t pretty but Arsenal got their three points, Bukayo Saka’s early goal paving the way to surpass Brighton.
In fairness to the Seagulls, they gave this a real good go in a fighting display. And Fabian Hurzeler didn’t relent in his complaints about perceived Arsenal time-wasting.
1. Whether intentional or not, Hurzeler has stoked the fire for every Arsenal game left of this campaign.
His comments in a Tuesday press conference on the north London club time-wasting around corners had sparked further tensions amid the debate around their reliance on set-pieces.
He had a point: according to Opta, Arsenal have a delay time of 44.4 seconds at corners which is the most in the Premier League. Brighton, in comparison, take 37.4 seconds.
Anyhow, right from the off, Hurzeler was in fourth official David Webb’s ear appearing to complain about perceived time-wasting around throw-ins, injuries and free-kicks.
That irked Arteta, who shot a death stare his way, and got one in return at full-time.
Fabian Hurzeler’s extraordinary Arsenal rant may follow them for the rest of the season
Such anger is something Arteta’s men will have to get used to it. Each team they face from now will have in their minds that Arsenal are stretching the rules to waste time
More pertinently, this supposed gamesmanship by Arsenal whipped up the crowd. At any and every opportunity, the home fans chided the visitors.
David Raya crumbling to the floor holding his shoulder on 58 minutes was met by screams of ‘cheat, cheat, cheat!’.
Each Arsenal throw-in was taking too long, according to the crowd. Brighton away isn’t the most intimidating proposition the Gunners will have faced this season.
Still, when injustice is felt, a crowd can turn rather quickly. The atmosphere grew frustrated and that seeped onto the pitch.
Bukayo Saka, stricken on the ground in injury time, was scooped up by Joel Veltman who thought the England man was time-wasting.
Such anger is something Arteta’s men will have to get used to it. Each team they face from now will have in their minds that Arsenal are stretching the rules to waste time, whether that’s a fair point or not.
If there wasn’t enough motivation already to spoil the league leaders’ dream of a first Premier League title, this will only add further fuel to the fire.
Now seven points clear, they will take some stopping – and opponents will be clutching at anything to try stop this team.
2. The importance of William Saliba to this Arsenal side grows ever clearer.
Cristhian Mosquera does relish his opportunities, mind.
Back in August against Liverpool, substituted on after five minutes to replace the injured Saliba, the Spaniard shone brightly.
His composure on the ball and defensive positioning that day was beyond his 21 years of age.
Since then, he’s had to bide his time on the bench, ready for when the door opens; usurping Saliba or Gabriel at this stage of his career is unrealistic.
As a second-choice centre back, though, he is a good option. In his subsequent next four league starts, the defender has been reliable.
Against Brighton, Mosquera made his sixth league start after Saliba was left out of the squad because of a twisted ankle sustained against Chelsea last Sunday.
He started slowly, giving the ball away in the first minute after playing out from the back which saw the Seagulls spring an attack.
From there, the jitters could be sensed. He took extra time on the ball, trying to thread his passes forward.
The Brighton frontline kept looking to drag him out of position, and it worked on occasion.
Cristhian Mosquera deputised for William Saliba well, but Arsenal missed their star man
His rawness came to the fore on his booking after 11 minutes for fouling Georginio Rutter; the booking was harsh, though this in turn piled on further pressure and you could sense his tentativeness when going into challenges.
It was further exacerbated by a tug he made on an opposition player after half an hour. He was now treading a tight rope.
Overall, Mosquera put in some good challenges. He is a good defender.
He’s also a young defender learning his craft, as seen by the way Yankuba Minteh glided past him from out wide on the hour mark to nearly score.
It just reflected how crucial the first-choice pairing of Saliba and Gabriel is to Arsenal.
This is not a slight on Mosquera in any way, but an acknowledgment of how good these two defenders — and particularly together.
They are both totally in sync with each other, which forms the bedrock of the Gunners’ play.
On Saliba, the Frenchman would be undroppable for any team in the league. He is that important to Arteta.
3. Having got the three points, Arsenal can enjoy one sizeable advantage from their next eight games.
Only one — against Manchester City — is outside London.
That is a big boost, travel a taxing factor when taking into account that the Gunners are still fighting in four competitions, including the Champions League.
Man City, conversely, have five away matches to navigate.
It’s a big difference, and one Arteta will be looking to capitalise on.
