Arsenal held at Brighton while Man City bounce-back continues

Arsenal blew a chance to make up significant ground on Premier League leaders Liverpool with a disappointing 1-1 draw at Brighton.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, Premier League runners-up over the past two seasons, travelled to the south coast on Saturday hunting a fourth straight league win.

Seventeen-year-old Ethan Nwaneri, in for the injured Bukayo Saka, put them on course for all three points in the first half.

But Joao Pedro levelled from the penalty spot following a clash of heads between the Brazilian and William Saliba just after the hour mark, prompting a furious reaction from Arteta.

“We’re also very disappointed with the penalty and the way it was given,” Arteta said. “I’ve never seen that in my life, and Saliba touches the ball, so it’s never a penalty for me.”

The 1-1 draw means the second-placed Gunners are five points behind Liverpool, having played two games more, with Arne Slot’s in-form leaders hosting crisis-hit Manchester United on Sunday.

“We knew it was going to be competitive and challenging,” added Arteta. “But we did compete, and it wasn’t our best day.

“We’re playing every three days as well, and today we lost too many simple things. Doing the simple things, we have to do them right, and today wasn’t to those standards.”

Manchester City, who beat Leicester last week for just their second win in 14 games, have now won successive matches for the first time since October after pummelling West Ham 4-1 earlier on Saturday.