Brighton 1-1 Arsenal: Gunners miss likelihood to go inside three factors of Liverpool in title race as Joao Pedro’s penalty cancels out Ethan Nwaneri’s opener

Further strides were made by Arsenal‘s great new hope, but ground was lost on the Premier League‘s runaway leader. To Mikel Arteta‘s list of irritants, we can now add the concession of a contentious penalty to iffy hamstrings and illnesses.

The flashpoint came an hour in, with Arsenal 1-0 ahead and riding the feel-good vibes of their homegrown teenager, Ethan Nwaneri, whose goal had trimmed a little of Liverpool‘s advantage.

But then, it all turned on a decision to award a penalty against William Saliba for an accidental clash of heads with Brighton‘s Joao Pedro.

No doubt there was contact, but under a bouncing ball, in the midst of a frenzy and with Pedro on a course away from goal, it felt marginal. Arteta’s outstretched arms would indicate a similar instinct.

But the referee, Anthony Taylor, gave it, the VAR agreed, and Pedro nailed the kick. With it, the prospect of reducing Liverpool’s lead to two points, albeit with two games in hand, fizzed into the far bleaker outlook of a five-point deficit and an end to their run of four straight league wins.

For Arteta, who had Martin Odegaard on the bench with illness and Kai Havertz at home for the same reason, equal disappointment will come from elements of the performance. It wasn’t bad, but it just wasn’t particularly good, either, which extended to a rare ineffectiveness at set-pieces, encapsulated by one first-half corner when his three of his men conspired to floor one another in the hunt for a Declan Rice delivery.

Arsenal lost more ground to Liverpool in the Premier League title race as they drew with Brighton at the Amex

The Gunners started the game without captain Martin Odegaard, who was ill and on the bench

They had led until Joao Pedro scored from the penalty spot after being clattered into by William Saliba

The rest was middle-of-the-road. A bit bland. A lot of endeavour, not enough quality. They did the hard part by getting through Brighton’s press, but couldn’t find enough clever balls to build solid chances. The one time they did from open play, Nwaneri scored, assisted in part by Rice and Mikel Merino but also by poor goalkeeping.

That being said, it was a fine moment for the 17-year-old, who has a difficult task in replacing Bukayo Saka but is handling it brilliantly. On the back of such a strong showing against Brentford, the strike, and the single-minded nature of how he ignored a couple of gilded team-mates to take it, was proof of his talent.

Alas, he was also booked for delaying too long at a corner and hooked at half-time, so this is a work in progress, but his signs are good. Certainly better than Arsenal’s title prospects.

As for Brighton, this was an eighth game without a win, but of their six draws in that stretch this one will taste better.

In truth, the evening carried an ominous whiff for Arsenal from the off. The pre-match worry surrounded their creativity and pace, or rather what would be lost with Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli on the bench. For all the obvious benefit of Rice returning to the starting XI, a midfield unit placing him alongside Jorginho and Merino was light on attacking juice. Or so went the thinking.

There was also the consideration of Thomas Partey, relocated to right back to cover the suspension of Jurrien Timber and briefed to supply support for Nwaneri. But if Julen Herzeler sensed a weakness worth probing on that flank, based on how often his side looked for Simon Adingra on their left wing, it initially appeared to be misplaced.

That much was shown with the opening goal, scored after 16 minutes. Along with Nwaneri, Rice was also a key element, using a quick shuffle on the touchline to suck in and wipeout both Igor Julio and Pervis Estupinan.

From there, he freed Merino who had space to chip forward for Nwaneri to go on his surge. The finish, hit low and hard across goal, ought to have been saved by Bart Verbruggen, but take nothing from the academy lad – there was no trace of inhibition or indecision from the moment he took possession 40 yards from his target. Nor was there an instinct for deference with Gabriel Jesus and Rice available and calling for the pass. There’s an assassin in his make-up.

Ethan Nwaneri scored his second Premier League goal to put Arsenal 1-0 up after 14 minutes

Thomas Tuchel watched on, with the new England manager attending his second game of the day in the top flight

Arsenal are now five points behind Liverpool, who also have two games in hand on them

While that was Arsenal’s clearest highlight of the half, there were times they lived dangerously.

Two of them involved Jorginho, who first bungled a clearance into the path of Adingra – the shot was mishit – and then he coughed up possession in midfield, only for the same player to duff another strike. Minor wobbles that went unpunished.

The greater concern were the chances they failed to create. Playing through Brighton’s high, aggressive press worked up to a point, but too often the next ball lacked precision. Same went for those set-pieces.

Interestingly, Brighton followed the example set by Monaco of leaving three men near halfway, forcing Arteta to forego a swamping of the area. Deterrent or not, Arsenal found no way through – Nwaneri hit the near post direct from one delivery, was booked for dallying too long on his next, and in between a Rice corner triggered a three-way collision between Jesus, Merino and Partey. They’ve had better days.

For the second half, Arteta, mindful of Nwaneri’s booking, swapped the winger for Martinelli, while Hurzeler brought on Georginio Rutter and Yankuba Minteh for Matt O’Riley and Brajan Gruda. With the extra impetus, they had their chance to level quarter of an hour into the half through that contentious penalty.

No doubt there was a clash of heads, but equally that it was an accidental collision under a high ball in the midst of a frenzy. An unusual one. Irrespective, Pedro sent David Raya the wrong way for his first goal in eight games and Arteta called Odegaard off his bench.

The desperation was obvious, but the impact limited. In fact, it was Brighton who came closest to winning, with Minteh getting away from Riccardo Calafiori and blazing inwards on the precise path to goal taken by Nwaneri. Picking the same spot, he was a fraction wide of landing the heist. Moments later, Yasin Ayari skidded a free-kick a touch outside the opposite post, before Arsenal had two last spins in the game of set-piece roulette.

Both were taken from the same spot, right of the area, 45 yards. Both were whipped by Rice to the penalty spot. Both drew free headers, for Partey and Calafiori, and both efforts flew over the bar, taking two points with them.