Sports
Brighton Humbling Is ‘Big Lesson’ for Arsenal, Arteta Warns After First Defeat
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has described the club’s 3-0 defeat to Brighton as a “big lesson”, warning his players that complacency could prove costly in the Premier League title race.
The Gunners suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday at the American Express Stadium, with Brighton producing a dominant display to hand the defending champions a heavy setback.
Brighton took control from the opening stages and repeatedly exposed gaps in Arsenal’s usually disciplined defence.
Pascal Gross and Charalampos Kostoulas struck before half-time, while Chema Andres headed in Brighton’s third early in the second half to complete a convincing victory.
The defeat was Arsenal’s heaviest by more than two goals in more than three years.
Reacting after the match, Arteta admitted that Brighton deserved the victory and criticised his side’s failure to meet the basic demands of Premier League football.
“Extremely disappointed. First of all, I think we have to congratulate Brighton for the victory; I think they deserve it,” Arteta said.
“I think they were the better team. From our side, there were certain basics that you need to accomplish in football, especially in the Premier League, that we were very far from.”
The setback comes after Arsenal made a perfect start to the campaign, winning their opening seven matches in all competitions and raising expectations that they could retain the Premier League title.
However, Arteta said the defeat had provided a timely reminder of the demands of a long season, particularly with a three-week international break now giving his squad time to reflect.
“It’s a big lesson for us,” the Spanish coach added.
“That’s not going to take away what the team has done, and the boys have done in the last six or seven weeks since coming back from the World Cup.
“With 18 players coming back, what we’ve done and the way we’ve competed and the amount of games we’ve won has been remarkable.
“But this is a big lesson for all of us to understand what it takes to win at this level.”
Arteta will now look to use the international break to regroup his squad before Arsenal resume their campaign, with the Brighton defeat serving as their first major setback of the season.
Chelsea’s hopes of competing for the Premier League title this season took a huge blow on Friday night after they were thrashed 3-0 by Brentford.
The Blues dominated the opening 45 minutes of the match, but failed to break down the hosts and get goals.
It was the Bees who took the lead after the break, with Jaydon Anthony heading into an empty net following a corner routine.
Chelsea fought to level the game, but it was Brentford who scored again.
Kevin Schade saw his effort saved, but Igor Thiago was on hand to score the rebound.
There was enough time for Fabio Carvalho to squeeze in a third.
Manchester City have become the last team to qualify for the last 16 of the Carabao Cup.
This follows their 5-0 thrashing of Norwich on Thursday evening.
Enzo Maresca’s men went two goals up in the first half, thanks to strikes from Floyd Samba and Rayan Cherki.
Allan, Samba and Ryan McAidoo completed the rout after the break.
City will now face Brighton who eliminated Manchester United.
FULL FIXTURES:
Fleetwood vs Arsenal
Man City vs Brighton
Everton vs Newcastle
Sunderland vs Brentford
Liverpool vs Chelsea
Bradford City vs Peterborough
Fulham vs Crystal Palace
Bournemouth vs Aston Villa
Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly will leave his role after agreeing to sell his stake in the Premier League football club to co-owners Clearlake Capital.
The announcement came early on Thursday morning, with the US equity firm acquiring “full control of the club”.
Boehly bought a stake in the London club in 2022 and said it had been an “honour” to serve as chairman.
He gave his thanks to “the coaches and players, the talented leadership and staff at Chelsea, and the legions of dedicated fans”.
His statement continued: “I have valued my partnership with Clearlake and the wider ownership group, and the collective decisions and investment we have made to support the immediate and long-term success of the club.
“I am confident that Chelsea is well positioned for continued success under Clearlake’s leadership.”
Behdad Eghbali and José E. Feliciano, co-founders of Clearlake Capital, said: “Todd has been an important partner throughout our ownership of Chelsea, and we thank him for his time and contribution as Chairman.
“He will always be a part of the Chelsea story and family. Clearlake has served as Chelsea’s majority owner since 2022, and as we move to full control our focus is to continue investing in the Club’s infrastructure, sporting performance, player development and delivering long-term success for Chelsea and the Club’s supporters.”
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Todd Boehly bought the stake in 2022 (Image: Getty)
Chelsea said that Hansjörg Wyss “will remain an important stakeholder and partner in the ownership group” after Mark Walter, another of the club’s co-owners, also sold his stake to Clearlake.
Mr Boehly, Mr Walter and Hansjörg Wyss each had a 12.8% stake following their joint takeover of Chelsea four years ago.
The new change will not change day-to-day operations or strategy at the club.
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