{"id":2894,"date":"2025-12-27T17:28:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T17:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/?p=2894"},"modified":"2026-01-13T07:19:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T07:19:02","slug":"arsenal-back-on-top-after-hard-fought-2-1-win-over-brighton-at-emirates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/arsenal-back-on-top-after-hard-fought-2-1-win-over-brighton-at-emirates\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal Back on Top After Hard-Fought 2-1 Win Over Brighton at Emirates"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"model-response-message-contentr_779d86e61593fc4c\" class=\"markdown markdown-main-panel enable-updated-hr-color\" dir=\"ltr\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-busy=\"false\">\n<p data-path-to-node=\"1\">Arsenal returned to the summit of the Premier League on Saturday, though not without a self-inflicted late flutter of nerves. After Manchester City briefly displaced them with a clinical win over Nottingham Forest earlier in the afternoon, Mikel Arteta\u2019s side responded with a performance that was, for an hour, a masterclass in suffocating dominance before fraying at the edges.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"1\"><strong>People Also Read:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/rayan-cherki-inspires-manchester-city-to-hard-fought-2-1-win-over-nottingham-forest\/\">Rayan Cherki Inspires Manchester City to Hard-Fought 2-1 Win Over Nottingham Forest<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Gunners issued a statement of intent from the first whistle, and it was Martin \u00d8degaard who provided the breakthrough in the 14th minute. After Brighton\u2019s insistence on playing out from the back backfired spectacularly, the captain capitalized on a loose short goal-kick.<\/p>\n<p>His finish was vintage \u00d8degaard: a crisp, low, left-footed strike that hissed past Bart Verbruggen. It was his first of the campaign, a goal that felt as much about relief as it did technique.<\/p>\n<p>By the interval, the only mystery was how the lead remained at one. Arsenal registered 15 shots to Brighton\u2019s zero in a first half that felt like a training exercise, yet the hosts headed down the tunnel kicking themselves for failing to bury the contest early.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">4 &#8211; Four of Arsenal&#8217;s last six goals have been opposition own goals, as many as across their previous 182 goals combined in all competitions. Blink. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Lim4xpRTYT\">pic.twitter.com\/Lim4xpRTYT<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OptaJoe\/status\/2004950298151014544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3 data-path-to-node=\"5\"><b data-path-to-node=\"5\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">The Turning Point<\/b><\/h3>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">The cushion finally arrived seven minutes into the second half via a familiar route. Arsenal\u2019s proficiency from dead-ball situations bore fruit once more when Declan Rice\u2019s whipped delivery was inadvertently glanced home by <b data-path-to-node=\"6\" data-index-in-node=\"224\">Georginio Rutter<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\">It was a calamitous moment for the Brighton man, who looked to have cleared a ball that required no intervention, marking yet another own goal in Arsenal\u2019s favor this season.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7\">However, the 2-0 lead birthed complacency rather than composure. In the 64th minute, Brighton found a lifeline out of nowhere. Yasin Ayari\u2019s low drive rattled the post, and <b data-path-to-node=\"7\" data-index-in-node=\"173\">Diego Gomez<\/b> showed superb instincts to lash the rebound into the top corner, silencing a stunned Emirates crowd.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">What followed was a frantic finale that Arsenal made far more difficult than necessary. The tension reached a crescendo in the 77th minute when <b data-path-to-node=\"9\" data-index-in-node=\"144\">David Raya<\/b> produced a save of the season contender.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">As good as a goal \ud83d\ude2e<\/p>\n<p>Still thinking about this <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/daviidraya1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@daviidraya1<\/a> save to earn <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Arsenal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Arsenal<\/a> all three points \ud83e\udde4 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7L6gOKqDoH\">pic.twitter.com\/7L6gOKqDoH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Premier League (@premierleague) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/premierleague\/status\/2004963265944977739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\">Yankuba Minteh, despite being off-balance, unleashed a strike destined for the top corner, only for Raya to fingertip it wide at full stretch.<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\">&#8220;We played really well and controlled the game,&#8221; \u00d8degaard reflected afterward. &#8220;When we got the second goal, I felt we could\u2019ve done better to manage the game and not concede. But that\u2019s football. We got the win, and we\u2019re happy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"11\">It wasn&#8217;t the clinical afternoon Arteta might have drawn up, but in a title race where margins are razor-thin, Arsenal\u2019s ability to weather the storm and reclaim their perch is all that truly matters.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Arsenal returned to the summit of the Premier League on Saturday, though not without a self-inflicted late flutter of nerves. After Manchester City briefly displaced them with a clinical win over Nottingham Forest earlier in the afternoon, Mikel Arteta\u2019s side responded with a performance that was, for an hour, a masterclass in suffocating dominance before &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/arsenal-back-on-top-after-hard-fought-2-1-win-over-brighton-at-emirates\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Arsenal Back on Top After Hard-Fought 2-1 Win Over Brighton at Emirates<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[121,5],"tags":[127],"class_list":["post-2894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","category-top-stories","tag-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2894"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2907,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894\/revisions\/2907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spotvnow.com\/read\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}