Arsenal 2-1 Brighton: Did Hurzeler pick the wrong team and what about Minteh? | OneFootball

Arsenal beat Brighton 2-1 at the Emirates, extending Fabian Hurzeler’s bleak December run. Brighton are down to 12th and five without a win, with no December victory in 11 matches across two Premier League seasons.

NY Times highlights selection decisions and recurring slow starts as the key themes. Martin Odegaard scored on 14 minutes, Georginio Rutter headed an own goal on 52, then Diego Gomez replied on 64.

Hurzeler moved to a back three, with Gomez starting. Brighton’s first half was passive, Bukayo Saka repeatedly exposed the left side and Odegaard found time and space to strike.

At half-time Mats Wieffer replaced Maxim De Cuyper and Ferdi Kadioglu switched to left-back, Yankuba Minteh came on for Brajan Gruda. The changes injected intent, although Rutter’s near-post back-header from a Declan Rice corner made it 2-0.

For the seventh time in nine away games Brighton conceded inside 24 minutes. Gomez’s rebound cut the deficit and a late surge followed, with Danny Welbeck returning, and Arsenal were hanging on.

Leaving Minteh out looked a missed chance, his pace troubled Arsenal’s makeshift back four and David Raya made a superb save to stop his curler.

Diego Coppola made his first away appearance on the right of a back three and was booked for a foul on Leandro Trossard. Brighton’s final chance to fix their December flaw comes at West Ham on Tuesday.

Source: NY Times