Carabao Cup Third Round

ARSENAL 1 (Nketiah 20)
BRIGHTON 3 (Welbeck 27 pen, Mitoma 58, Lamptey 71)

IT’S hard to imagine that there are many Arsenal fans out there who are devastated by their side being dumped out of the Carabao Cup – a few might have even secretly cheered when Brighton’s third goal went in at the Emirates Stadium this evening (Wednesday).

In battling back from a goal down to seal a clinical 3-1 victory in north London the Seagulls have probably done Mikel Arteta’s small squad a massive favour in freeing up a few fixtures on nights that would be better spent recovering and preparing for much more important games in the Premier League and, to a lesser extent, the Europa League.

It is unlikely that such gratitude will stretch to the FA Cup, of course – such is Arsenal’s rich history in what is a much more prestigious competition.

And while Arteta stressed “disappointment” following what was only the Gunners third defeat of the season, the simple truth is that the Spaniard doesn’t possess the strength in depth to make 10 changes to his starting line-up and still expect to win.

“We know where we are. We know we had certain injuries, and that the squad is already very, very short – and we have tried to manage that in the best possible situation,” accepted the Arsenal boss.

“That’s the squad that we have and we have to use and utilise the squad the best possible way. Tonight, we came up short – especially because we didn’t do what we have to do in both boxes to win a football match, and we paid the price.”

The night had in fact started so well for the home side, Reiss Nelson carrying the ball up the pitch before finding Eddie Nketiah, who bent a sublime first-time shot past Jason Steele in the Brighton goal to score his third of the season.

But in a moment to forget debutant Karl Hein gifted Brighton a way back into the game when he slipped while racing out of goal to close down Danny Welbeck. In trying to retrieve the situation the 20-year-old Estonia international goalkeeper sent Welbeck tumbling in the box, and the former Gunner confidently dispatched the resulting penalty to level the scores.

Far from being distracted or demoralised by conceded the equaliser, Arsenal still looked the most likely winners. Nketiah came within a whisker of scoring his second of the night with a thumping effort that hit the post, while Nelson saw a close-range header miraculously clawed away by Steele in what was without doubt the save of the night. Albert Sambi Lokonga also fizzed a shot fractions wide from the edge of the area.

Brighton weren’t as generous in front of goal, and just before the hour mark Jeremy Sarmiento’s run and pass picked out substitute Kaoru Mitoma in the box, and the Japanese winger bent his finish past Hein to make it 2-1.

Wing-back Tariq Lamptey then put the game out of Arsenal’s reach when he burst into the box before sliding a finish under the helpless Hein.

Insisting that his side deserved more from the game, Arteta said: “The view is that the result doesn’t reflect actually what happened on the pitch. I think it’s clear, but there are two things on the pitch: those are the boxes.

“They were much more efficient than us and that makes the whole difference. In the moments that we were clearly on top of the game, when we had the chances to get away with the game, we conceded the goal and that changed the game.

“Losing is disappointing. It’s a shame for the boys because they really tried and we should have scored two or three in the second half. Obviously we wanted to continue in the competition but unfortunately we are out.”

Arsenal: Hein, Soares, Saliba (Gabriel, 63), Holding, Tierney (Zinchenko, 72), Lokonga (Xhaka, 80), Elneny, Vieira (Jesus, 72), Nelson, Marquinhos (Martinelli, 62), Nketiah
Substitutes not used: Turner, White, Partey, Odegaard

Brighton: Steele, Veltman, Dunk (Webster, 60), Colwill, Lamptey, Caicedo (Gross, 45), Gilmour, Sarmiento (Undav, 79), March (Mitoma, 45), Enciso (Estupinan, 76), Welbeck
Substitutes not used: Sanchez, Ferguson, Turns, Moran