Arsenal's unbeaten start to the Premier League season ended on Saturday with a 3-0 defeat to Brighton at the Amex Stadium. The Gunners had won their first four league games, against Coventry City, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Sunderland, and had also beaten Napoli in the Champions League and Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup third round.
Goals from Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andres condemned Arsenal to defeat, snapping their nine-match league winning streak. The loss leaves fans to dwell on the result during the extended international break.
Arteta points finger at players
Mikel Arteta blamed his players after the match, saying they were error-ridden. "Brighton deserved to win the game. We didn't do the basics right for long periods, especially in the first half," he said. "We didn't win enough duels and any second balls and that stretches you. With the errors that we made and especially with the principles we didn't apply against a team that wants to press you."
He added: "So that puts us constantly under pressure and didn't get out of that in the way we normally do. So a lot of things to learn and take, but ultimately disappointed."
Merson criticises Guimaraes
Summer signing Bruno Guimaraes started alongside Declan Rice in midfield but was replaced by Mikel Merino after 60 minutes. Paul Merson, a Sky Sports pundit who played 423 games for Arsenal between 1985 and 1997, was blunt in his assessment of the £75million man.
"A million miles off it. I said at half-time he would come off, but he's stayed on for another 10 minutes or so. It was really quick for him. They closed him down," Merson said. "I don't care how good you are. If people get your head down and close you down and make you work, it's a leveller and that's what Brighton have done. They have been absolutely brilliant."
Arteta pointed to the midfield pairing's previous outing together, a 2-0 win over Sunderland, when assessing why the change did not work. "It worked extremely well when we played Sunderland away," he said. "Today, it didn't work for a lot of things that happened as well behind them to make sure that they could play a completely different game. That's something that will surely evolve. It's in its early stages. They only play together a few minutes and that relationship will for sure improve and give us a lot of joy."
