An “extremely disappointed” Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal were served a “big lesson” after seeing his Premier League champions dismantled by Brighton.
Arsenal’s 100% start to their title defence came to a dramatic end at the Amex Stadium as an inspired Brighton secured a richly-deserved 3-0 win.
The defeat, Arsenal’s first in the league since they lost at Manchester City on 19 April, blows away any suggestion Arteta’s side will cruise to a second title in as many years.
And, speaking after the shock loss, which ended Arsenal’s seven-matching winning streak across all competitions, Arteta said: “I am extremely disappointed. Brighton deserved it, they were the better team.
“And from our side there are certain basics that you need to accomplish in football, especially in the Premier League, that we were very far from.
“In the first duel, the second ball, that put the game, especially how direct they were, in a really difficult place for us.
“On top of that, when we did regain the ball, especially in our own half, the amount of technical errors that we did, we didn’t respect any principle of play and that put us always on the back foot, so it was very difficult to control the game.
“It’s a big lesson for us all to understand what it takes to win at this level.”
Prior to Saturday’s fixture, Arsenal had conceded just once in the league so far. The last time the Gunners shipped three in a game was in a 4-3 win at Luton nearly three years ago, while their last three-goal defeat came, coincidentally, against Brighton in Arsenal’s penultimate home game of the 2022-23 season.
Arteta continued: “From the first throw-in you could sense it, it was so clear. We put ourselves in trouble one time, two times, three times and we needed to get out of it much quicker than that.
“Credit to them. They overcame us and they had another edge, another bite, and that’s something that at this level it’s extremely important to respect and to understand.
“That’s not going to take away what the boys have done in the last six or seven weeks since coming back from the World Cup, because with 18 players coming back and how we’ve competed and the amount of games we’ve won has been remarkable.”
Pascal Gross and Charalampos Kostoulas both struck from range to hand Brighton a 2-0 lead at the interval before Chema Andres headed a third in the 57th minute to seal a famous win.
Asked if it was the best result of his career, Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler replied: “It is a difficult question to ask immediately after the game when the emotions are still high.
“It is very important to stay humble. We have to enjoy this moment but understand why we had success and come back to our roots, which is about being brilliant in the basics and trusting each other.”