LONDON: A dominant Arsenal side beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 at home today with second-half goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, as the north London side provisionally moved back to the top of the Premier League standings.
Brighton had won on their last three trips to The Emirates in all competitions but all the first-half action was in their box as Arsenal pressed forward and were thwarted repeatedly, with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen standing firm.
But Brighton’s resistance came to an end eight minutes into the second half when defender Jan Paul van Hecke accidentally flicked a corner kick into the path of unmarked striker Gabriel Jesus, who headed home at the far post.
Brighton nearly levelled through Pascal Gross who shot wide late in the match, but an Arsenal counter-attack in the 87th minute saw Kai Havertz go through on goal to make it 2-0 and give the home side some breathing space.