Successive victories, but this one achieved in an entirely different manner to the previous one. A hard-fought win over a well-organised but limited Brighton side was achieved in a match very much of two halves.
Unaccountably following the emphatic win over Chelsea, Arsenal were extremely tentative almost throughout the first half - even though there was apparently little to fear - and didn't wake up until after the interval. If there was a difference between the two oppositions, it was that Brighton were prepared to make up for whatever deficiencies they have by means of hard work, which is something that Chelsea were palpably not prepared to do. Arsenal were forced back by a disciplined press, and therefore found little space to work in until they finally took matters into their own hands and picked up the pace following Arteta's half-time team talk. Brighton bent, and finally buckled, as Arsenal found space on either side of the two outside central defenders.
As far as team selection was concerned, Arteta made just a single change. Lacazette probably didn't deserve to be benched after his performance in the previous game, but it was understandable that the manager would wish to see how his best centre-forward would fare with the same assistance afforded to the Frenchman on Saturday, so Auba came back in following his calf strain.
It was, however, difficult to judge how it worked, as Brighton - pivoted by the impressive Bissouma - stopped at source much of the progressive football we had seen against Chelsea and had the Arsenal midfield looking back as opposed to forwards for large tranches of the first half. This led to one or two errors - one especially horrible one from Elneny - and it was thanks to Leno's fine save from Jahanbakhsh (easy for you to say...) and the fact that Potter had gone into the game with all his main centre forward options on the bench that saved some blushes. With the triple threat of Saka, Martinelli and Smith Rowe almost completely nullified, there really is little else to report positively on during a turgid first 45 minutes.
Arsenal came out with a lot more purpose after the break - as I say, they could afford to as there was little to really worry them - and despite Brighton claims for an early penalty when Dunk went down in the box at a corner it was pretty much all Arsenal for much of the second half.
On 50 minutes Martinelli fed Saka down the left, and following a powerful run his cross was met by the onrushing Aubameyang, who could scarcely believe it as Sanchez's fortuitously outstretched knee prevented the ball hitting the back of the net. The first time, really, that we had seen Arsenal get in behind Brighton and a blueprint for the winning goal.
In swift succession, Martinelli and Aubameyang himself sent decent opportunities over the bar as Arsenal finally began to find their mojo. Saka was becoming more and more influential, popping up all over the front line, and his close control and instant acceleration was the main contributor to the change in the pattern of the game. To think that this guy is a mere 19 years old...
Arteta replaced the largely ineffective Martinelli (still very much feeling his way back after injury) with Lacazette in the 66th minute, and seconds later Saka turned Burn on half-way, raced 40 yards at full speed down the right and turned the ball inside to the Frenchman, who was in acres of space a dozen yards out. One touch to control the ball, and a second to plant the ball cleverly around Dunk and inside Sanchez's near post. A neat finish, a mere 21 seconds since his entry onto the pitch, but the goal was really all about young Saka.
And that was that, really. Saka went down with 15 minutes to go and had to leave the field - apparently it's nothing too serious - but apart from that Arsenal were able to repel the pea shooter efforts that Brighton attempted for the rest of the game with great ease.
So that's 6 points from the last two games, and with so many other games being drawn the vast gap that had separated Arsenal from the top half of the table - let alone the top 4 or 6 - has just started to narrow. There's a long way to go, of course, but with fixtures against West Brom, Palace and Newcastle to follow we should be targeting maximum points and a leap back up the table.
Fingers crossed for that. Happy New Year to you all, and I hope you stay safe and well. I'm sort of expecting football to join the rest of the UK in a 'circuit-breaker' some time very soon, and that may upset the momentum; but in direct contrast to what Bill Shankly once said, I'd suggest that life or death is more important than football.
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