‘They deserved to win’: Arteta left humbled by Brighton defeat

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal were taught a lesson by free-scoring Brighton as their 100% start to the season was abruptly ended on Saturday. Not since 10 May 2023 – 1,224 days ago – when the same opponents won 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium had the Premier League champions lost by three goals. But they were second-best throughout as Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andres rounded off a comprehensive victory.

“They deserved to win the game and it’s a big lesson for us,” said a disappointed Arteta, who felt his players were not their usual combative selves. “From the first throw-in you could sense it, it was so clear.

“We put ourselves in trouble one time, two times, three times and we need to get out of that much quicker than that. That’s one of the biggest lessons that we have to take from the game.

“We knew how tough it was going to be and the first thing we had discussed was about the first part. If you don’t get out of that first part as winners, it will be extremely difficult to dominate the game and to have any probability of winning the game. At this level, it’s extremely important to respect and to understand [that] before anything else.”

Asked whether this was a wake-up call after nine straight league wins that included them being crowned champions for the first time in 22 years in May, Arteta said: “For us it’s crystal clear. We knew and we talked for two days about what we have to do here. We played the fourth away game in a really short period of time.

“We know what it takes to win every single match and we know what it’s going to take to win against Leeds when we come back. That’s not a surprise, but it doesn’t take away the disappointment and emotional state we have”

Brighton have recorded victories over the reigning champions in the past three seasons and with 16 goals from five matches are all but certain to go into the international break as the division’s top scorers. Fabian Hürzeler compared the 35-year-old Gross to “a good wine” after he was instrumental in the win and praised his team’s collective efforts.

“Everyone has this mindset today: ‘I need to defend first and we defend as a team,’” he said. “We wanted to approach this game by getting small wins. Everyone speaks about a goal is a win, but a small win can be the first throw in, the first corner, win the first header, win the first tackle.

“If you win these small steps, if you celebrate them individually as a win then you can grow into the game. Then you can gain bigger and bigger wins.”