Brighton and Mwepu stun Arsenal to damage Champions League hopes

Arsenal could not have envisaged a worse week than this. It ended with two defeats, five goals conceded, one scored, two key players waylaid for the foreseeable future and a giant question mark planted above hopes of Champions League qualification that had previously been sky high.

They got what they deserved against a clever, composed Brighton side who had only scored once in their previous seven games, and Mikel Arteta must find a better set of solutions than this for the daunting run ahead if their challenge is to be sustained.

Enock Mwepu set up Leandro Trossard’s opener and then contrived a fine goal of his own; Arsenal will rue a borderline decision to disallow an equaliser from Gabriel Martinelli and, despite a late surge, found cold comfort in Martin Ødegaard’s late strike.

There was a nagging sense of unease for Arsenal from the start. The tensions surrounding both sides were evident during an opening quarter as uneventful as anything produced in the division recently and played to a crowd quieter and palpably nervier than this season’s largely buoyant Emirates support.

Balls went miscontrolled, overcooked or underhit across the pitch and it would be a stretch to recall a convincing attack at either end. Brighton’s lack of confidence in the final third may be well documented but they could claim to have enjoyed slightly the better of things against opponents who could not get going.

Graham Potter had set up with a dense 3-3-3-1 formation and the second of those lines, which included the 19-year-old league debutant Moises Caicedo, gave Arsenal’s midfield no breathing space. The injured Thomas Partey’s blend of physical presence and technical nous were clearly missed and the engine room Arteta began with, which