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Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes are close to being extinguished after losing 3-0 to Brighton

As Roberto De Zerbi blew mocking kisses at someone in the crowd, with them goes the 2022-23 Premier League. Manchester City are now just one win from a third successive title but that is almost immaterial because Arsenal have lost all will, as well as this potentially decisive game. A supposedly tight title race could well end next weekend with more than two games to play. It is almost extra cruel on Arsenal that one of those remaining games for City is against this Brighton. On the evidence of this impressive 3-0 victory in north London, to go with almost the entire season, De Zerbi’s side could have offered a real challenge. European football is within their grasp. Brighton’s own 5-1 defeat to Everton on Monday now feels almost as illusory as the idea there was ever a title race at all. City have just powered on through, against a relatively callow side. That is not necessarily to criticise Arsenal given that is what happens to young teams in such situations for the first time - you only have to look at Tottenham Hotspur in 2015-16 - but this was one of those games where the fight had gone, where they had no more to give. The submissive nature of the last two goals summed it up. Aaron Ramsdale has done as much as anyone to keep Arsenal in it for this long, but he will want to forget this day quickly. Brighton themselves so quickly got over that collapse against Everton. This win was all the more impressive for that, as they had all the fight of a manager who so abrasively celebrated every goal. For the last two, he was running down the line and leaping onto the pitch. How Arsenal could have done with such energy by then. Brighton had done a number on them. It was still hard not to think another match involving Everton influenced this more. City’s earlier 3-0 win at Goodison Park felt like it sapped this of all intensity. There was just that sense it was the last chance for a slip, and the ease of the champions’ win seemed to sap this occasion of its energy - at least from Arsenal’s perspective. Even in a better first half for Mikel Arteta’s side, it had the feel of an end-of-season dead rubber more than one from a title run-in, at least off the pitch. That will gradually affect what happens on it, even if Arteta will of course have been sure to make his players stay focused on the job at hand. The awareness of the state of play will always have that subconscious effect. There’s also the fact this was never going to be an easy game. There was no way De Zerbi was going to let Brighton be as porous as they were against Everton, a match that now looks even more like it was the most unlikely of the season. There was a response here, and real bite. There was edge to a lot of the challenges throughout the game. Brighton might fairly say that Gabriel Martinelli started it with what would generously be described as a leap into Kaoru Mitoma, but that spell ended with the Brazilian going off after a raw tackle from Moises Caicedo. Leandro Trossard came on for Martinelli and did clip the bar with an opportunity he might have scored from, as Arsenal still had the better of the first half, but it was lacking that conviction that has defined most of their season. It would be unfair on both sides to say it was going through the motions, but it was going to take so much more to move the dial here. Brighton were standing up strong, and causing problems on the break. Mitoma did superbly to set up Julio Enciso, but a defensive touch just took it away from the Paraguayan. It was nevertheless a warning Arsenal didn’t heed. With the second half so much flatter from Arteta’s side, Brighton sensed opportunity. Mitoma began to run at Ben White and frequently got past him. Arsenal were getting overrun in midfield. Pace-setting Jorginho had to be brought off for Thomas Partey. Pace was precisely the problem. Brighton were now playing with so much more of it. They eventually got around Arsenal on the flank, and the ball was clipped in for Enciso to finish. It didn’t help that Jakub Kiwior went down with an injury as it happened, but that was almost symbolic of the second half. Arsenal were down. Brighton were on it, sharper to everything. Ramsdale played one short back pass out, and Pascal Gross was straight on it, setting up Deniz Undav for a sumptuous lift to seal it. Worse was still to come. Ramsdale was soft on one save, Purvis Estupinan had the hard edge to turn a torrid afternoon for Arsenal into a chastening evening. It shouldn’t define their season. It has, however, decided it. Read More Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal focus to be on title charge instead of player futures Man City being driven to title by man of the moment – and it’s not Erling Haaland Brighton win puts Manchester City on title brink – 5 things from Premier League Servette fan plays key role in Gael Clichy’s stunning long-distance strike Arsenal won’t stop digging for Premier League title, Mikel Arteta vows

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Ilkay Gundogan isn’t leaving it quite as late this year. Twelve months ago, his goals won Manchester City the title: a comeback-clinching 81st-minute decider against Aston Villa on the final day of the season sealed the trophy. Now City’s May has consisted of more Gundogan goals to set up another coronation. After the captain’s brace against Leeds came a still better double at Everton, a volley of improvisational brilliance and a free kick he made look enviably easy, sandwiched by an assist. His 300th City appearance ranks as one of his finest. Having not struck twice in a game since last May, he has done so in successive league matches. When the business end of the season arrives, Gundogan becomes more purposeful. It is inspirational leadership but with a velvet touch. His excellence could render Arsenal’s results irrelevant. He is keeping the Gunners at bay while the newly anointed Footballer of the Year, Erling Haaland, is instead waging war on Everton’s past. His 52nd goal of the campaign means he now needs 11 to equal Dixie Dean’s record for a top-flight English club, set almost a century ago. Although, as he only has one goal in his last three games, the equation is weighted in favour of Everton’s greatest goalscorer. In one respect, Haaland produced a performance of extreme efficiency: when, in the 39th minute, he met Gundogan’s deft cross with a towering leap and an emphatic header, it was only his third touch of the afternoon. But he had scored from 33 per cent of them. He ended up with 13 touches and one goal. In a sense, City reflected Haaland: nothing much happened for quite some time and then they were deadly. Half an hour of nothingness at the start suited Everton, with the league leaders not even registering a shot on target until the 35th minute, but The Toffees conceded three goals within a quarter of an hour either side of the break. They were preceded by a glaring miss, with Mason Holgate hoofing the ball over the bar from four yards, and Everton’s chances of a shock came and went with one wild swing of his right foot. If City had lacked a little incision at the start, it was unsurprising. Pep Guardiola had rested much of his preferred midfield with Real Madrid in mind, taking out Kevin de Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Jack Grealish and the quasi-regista John Stones. But his captain was constant and a catalyst. City’s 11th straight league win stemmed from a couple of touches of class: first with Gundogan’s knee, to control Riyad Mahrez’s cross, and then with his right boot, as he hooked in a volley in a way few others could envisage, let alone execute. The paradox of City is that they have a robotic air, as though putting training ground routines into practice on the pitch, but can sometimes rely on individual virtuosity: five days after De Bruyne’s spectacular strike in the Bernabeu came a different kind of wonder goal. And, a couple of minutes later, a far more familiar one. Haaland’s giant leap has added another dimension to the City attack and he headed in Gundogan’s cross. When the German’s free-kick flew past Jordan Pickford, the goalkeeper perhaps ought to have done better. It was, though, a throwback to past title-clinching exploits. Gundogan had only scored from one previous free-kick in the Premier League: at Brighton, in May 2019, as City finished one point ahead of Liverpool. For Everton, the quest is to end up ahead of two out of Leeds, Leicester and Nottingham Forest, and earn a 70th successive season in the top flight. Last week’s five-goal demolition of Brighton felt like a mirage even if elite opponents called for a very different approach. They began with nine outfield players in a narrow box just outside their own area and were camped behind the ball. The eventual scoreline represented one kind of improvement. At Burnley, Sean Dyche had a habit of losing 5-0 to City, usually playing 4-4-2. Here the gameplan was different: a scorer of two goals against Brighton and involved in four, Dwight McNeil was an auxiliary defender, dropping in at left-back to make five at the back. Dyche ended with a 5-4-1 shape, too, rather than risking any further damage. Which, as his record now stands at 15 defeats in 16 games against Guardiola, with no wins, five goals scored and 54 conceded, is perhaps understandable. There might have been a sixth goal when Ederson tipped Amadou Onana’s header on to the bar. Everton could question if Aymeric Laporte deserved to escape unpunished when he seemed to lash out at Yerry Mina. But they have two games now, against Wolves and Bournemouth, to ensure they evade the drop. For Gundogan, and City, the season may yet bring three trophies. Read More Arsenal won’t stop digging for Premier League title, Mikel Arteta vows Jurgen Klopp backs Liverpool to revive title rivalry with Man City next season Guardiola hails ‘incredible’ Kevin De Bruyne as his stunning goal keeps Champions League tie in balance

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Follow live coverage as Arsenal face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League today. Manchester City are reigning champions after beating Liverpool to the finish line in a neck-and-neck 2021/22 title race where a comeback win on the final day of the season against Aston Villa secured a fourth title in five years for Pep Guardiola's side. Jurgen Klopp's Reds were on course for a quadruple last season but were forced to settle for just an FA Cup and Carabao Cup win and will return trying to win the title again just as they did in 2020. It was a dramatic season for Chelsea a year ago with Roman Abramovich now replaced by Todd Boehly as owner in west London. He will want an instant return on his hefty investment at Stamford Bridge while Tottenham, back in the Champions League, will want to kick on once more too. It's not all about the action at the top though with Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest promoted to the top tier for 2021/22 and hoping to hold their own against the best English football has to offer and avoid the drop. We will bring you all the action and updates from today's game in the live blog below: