Arsenal maintained their pursuit of their first Premier League title in 20 years as they moved to the top of the table with an impressive away victory over Brighton.
Mikel Arteta’s side edged one point ahead of title rivals Liverpool, who face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, and Manchester City, after the reigning champions beat Crystal Palace 4-2 earlier on Saturday.
After missing Wednesday’s 2-0 victory over Luton due to a minor injury, the returning Bukayo Saka maintained his composure to score a first-half penalty for Tariq Lamptey’s foul on Gabriel Jesus.
David Raya leapt across his goal to keep out Julio Enciso’s spectacular long-range effort after 43 minutes, which represented Brighton’s first attempt on target, to protect Arsenal’s advantage before the interval.
It was the in-form Kai Havertz who gave the Gunners breathing space, slotting in from Jorginho’s cut-back to settle nerves among the travelling Arsenal support after the hour mark.
Bart Verbruggen denied former Brighton player Leandro Trossard, but Havertz later played through to the substitute, who calmly lifted the ball over the Seagulls goalkeeper to seal the victory.
Brighton dropped to 10th with defeat as their hopes of achieving European football for a second successive season were dealt a blow by wins for West Ham and Newcastle directly above them.
