Arsenal v Brighton is always a tough fixture for me. With my wife’s side of family all being Gunners, I am occasionally outnumbered in my own home.
Saturday afternoon was one of those days. Tin hat on, like that famous phrase from the Battle of Britain film, I thought to myself before kick off.
And tin hats were very much needed. It was a real battle at the Emirates Stadium and with plenty of controversy included.
I was confident before kick off, thinking there would be plenty of goals and that Brighton might just grab all three points. I was half right. The Albion did nearly come away with victory.
Having gone to bed early on Friday night, my Saturday began with the news Billy Gilmour had joined Napoli just before the summer transfer window closed.
I am sure we all wish Billy the best. He was a great asset for the Albion and Napoli have gained themselves a fine midfielder. The people of Naples can now enjoy a brace of Scotsman running their midfield, having also signed Scott McTominay from Manchester United.
Another deadline day transfer was Raheem Sterling moving from Chelsea to Arsenal. Sterling was shown by the TV cameras, watching the game from the posh seats and taking it all in.
Brighton came under early pressure from a battery of gunners. Of course, Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz were at the forefront of this barrage and it needed the best efforts of Bart Verbruggen to prevent the Albion taking a direct hit.
After controlling much of the opening half hour, Arsenal scored the first goal on 38 minutes. Jurrien Timber hit a high, long ball up the pitch. In 99 percent of cases, Lewis Dunk makes it his own.
However, the bounce was a little awkward on this occasion. Saka got control and played across to Havertz, fending off Jan Paul van Hecke.
Havertz found himself in on goal and with Verbruggen rushing from his line, dinked the ball over the Albion goalkeeper. Small errors like that from Dunk get severely punished by a team as good as Arsenal.
Next came a reckless foul from Declan Rice on Joel Veltman, who was quite lucky to avoid serious injury. Rice earned a yellow card, as did Fabian Hurzeler for sharing his opinion on the tackle.
Brighton had everything to play for going into the second half. The only concern was how the two young players thrown together in midfield would cope.
Injury to James Milner after only 16 minutes meant Yasin Ayari coming on alongside Carlos Baleba. We hope Milner’s problem is not serious, but what an opportunity for Ayari to make an impression.
Four minutes into the second half and Veltman won a free kick after another encounter with Rice. Veltman wanted to take a quick free kick. Rice stopped him by nudging the ball and getting in the way.
Referee Chris Kavanagh showed Rice a second yellow card for delaying the restart and so he was off. 55,000-plus Arsenal fans inside the Emirates became pretty tearful, as well as those watching from home like Piers Morgan.
Morgan went so far as to say it was the worst red card in the history of professional football. Everyone seems to have since shared their opinion on it.
All I would say is that if you are already on a yellow card, do not even think about moving the ball away with your foot. You put yourself at risk of a second yellow, which is exactly what happened to Rice. No quarter was given by Chris Kavangh.
The red card lit a powder keg inside the stadium. Brighton though used it to their advantage and went all guns blazing.
A superb ball by Dunk through the eye of a needle played in Yankubu Minteh. His shot towards the Arsenal goal was saved by David Raya with Joao Pedro arriving fast onto the loose ball.
Pedro made no mistake, slotting home to make the score Arsenal 1-1 Brighton after 68 minutes. Game on, I thought.
The possession stats after that were incredible. Brighton had 72 percent and Arsenal just 28 percent. The Albion created several chances but couldn’t quite take one for a winner.
Gunners fans would probably argue the only reason they did not score a second was because of Verbruggen. That suggests a draw was probably the right result.
To go to Arsenal and play with such confidence shows Brighton mean business this season. The Albion go into the international break unbeaten.
With consecutive home games to come against Ipswich Town and Nottingham Forest, who know how high the Seagulls might climb by the end of September?
Tony Noble @Noble1844Tony
