Premier League champions Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season as they were stunned by Brighton, who put three past the champions at Amex Stadium.
Following impressive victories against Coventry City and Manchester United, the Seagulls began the match with plenty of confidence.
The Gunners found it hard to cope with the intensity the hosts displayed. Pascal Gross put Brighton ahead in the 31st minute with a shot from the edge of the box that went in off the post.
Arsenal, who had won their previous nine league matches and seven in all competitions at the start of this campaign, were never allowed to settle and appeared unusually jittery in possession.
They carved out their best chance to equalise on a counter-attack shortly before half-time. Bukayo Saka failed to convert after the ball reached him in the area following Martin Odegaard’s deflected attempt.
Only seconds after that missed chance, Brighton grabbed their second goal when Charalampos Kostoulas was afforded far too much room on the edge of the box to turn and fire past David Raya.
Mikel Arteta chose not to make any changes at half-time as he sought a response from his team. None arrived, with Chema Andres heading in Brighton’s third 12 minutes into the second half from a Gross corner.
That made it an 11th goal in the past week, following five at Coventry and a 3-2 comeback win at Old Trafford that stunned United in the Carabao Cup.
Defender Pascal Struijk, making his first Premier League start for Brighton since arriving from Leeds in the summer, nearly added a fourth from another corner. Headed wide under pressure.
Kai Havertz had a late chance to pull one back for Arsenal but shot straight at home goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen when through on goal, while Matt O’Riley was denied at the other end by Raya.
The loss left the defending champions second in the table on goal difference, having played one game more than Manchester City, who host Sunderland on Sunday, while Brighton climbed to third, two points behind the leaders.
