Maginificent Martin Odegaard
There's only one place to start from a crazy game on the south coast and that's with the man from the north. Martin Odegaard was sublime before the World Cup break but since football returned he has somehow found an extra level to go to.
Many thought West Ham was his greatest performance in an Arsenal shirt yet, but against Brighton he managed to go even further. For some the well taken half-volleyed finish would have been enough, or even the dragback nutmeg that nearly led to an assist for Gabriel Martinelli. But his crowning glory came undoubtedly with the superb assist that he did actually provide for the Brazilian in the second half.
In describing the pass he was typically understated. "I saw there was a lot of space in behind and our wingers are so quick," he told Sky Sports after the game. "It is not easy to stop Gabriel Martinelli in that position."
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It's not just the fact that Odegaard's pass was straight out of the top drawer of anything even Kevin De Bruyne could manage, but it's when in the game that it came. Arsenal had just been pegged back to 3-1 and with Brighton looking dangerous, it could easily have been hectic.
In these heated moments though, the Norwegian has a knack for keeping his cool, and managed to take the wind out of the sails of a Brighton come back (at least for the time being until Evan Ferguson popped up with a late second). It's easy to forget with Odegaard that he himself is still only 24, but with nearly a decade of experience in the senior game, he is proving invaluable for Arsenal as they continue to go from strength to strength.
Arsenal get nervous
Arsenal have been many things this season, but one thing you could probably never have accused them of being is nervous. Even if they were guaranteed to finish 2022 on top of the Premier League this game was always going to be a huge one for the Gunners. In the moments prior to kick off though it took on an even greater level of experience.
Manchester City and Newcastle both shocked the Premier League by dropping points in what looked like winnable games against Everton and Leeds, respectively. With Arsenal playing last on the day they knew now they had a chance to extend their lead even further.
Despite the company line being that Arsenal focus only on themselves, it is understood that they were well aware of what had happened in the 3pm kick offs as they stepped out on the Amex Stadium turf. They seemed to be responding to the pressure in the best possible way as Bukayo Saka put them a goal up inside a minute in their second threatening attack of the match. Special props should go to Thomas Partey and Alex Zinchenko who were essential in the build-up and started as if they knew what the win would mean.
After that though, the Gunners dropped back slightly and probably went 2-0 up against the run of play when Odegaard scored. Eddie Nketiah 's third appeared to have put the contest to bed, but Brighton are an excellent side and they were not to disappear into the New Year's Eve night.
Kauro Mitoma's goal had them back within touching distance and suddenly a sense of nervousness did start to spread among the Arsenal ranks. On the Richter scale of panic it dropped slightly when Martinelli made it 4-1, but shot back up to when William Saliba 's error enabled Evan Ferguson to make it 4-2. At that point panic stations were near a 10 and even Mikel Arteta appeared to be losing his cool as he rammed his index fingers into his temples in a gesture to get them to calm down.
"In this league I’ve seen it all," the Spaniard said of the topsy turvy nature of the game in his post-match press conference. "I’ve been in this country for 20 years so I’ve seen it. I could expect that momentum shift really quickly and it’s difficult to stop it. The goal got disallowed and we had much more room to win the game but you have to be prepared for that. You don’t come to this place, with this team and get a comfortable win. It doesn’t happen."
For the first time though it did appear as though the heft of title expectations began to weigh on Arsenal. They came away with the victory which is the main thing for now, but sterner tests will come and the hope will be that they can keep their cool far better in the future.
Seven points clear
Regardless of how they did it though, the point remains that Arsenal are now seven points clear at the top of the Premier League. If you had predicted that at the start of the year you would undoubtedly have been carted away. Now, though, it's the reality.
No matter what happens from this point on, Arsenal can look back on this season with immense pride at the strides they've made. But with each passing week the temptation to start dreaming of the title becomes harder to resist.
While that dangerous epidemic of hope of spreading rapidly through the fanbase, it does appear that the players are trying to keep their feet on the ground. "My excitement comes from going into the dressing room when the players are talking about what they should have done better today," Arteta said of his young side. "That means that they know that we can still player better and be better and against Newcastle we have to be better."
He is correct in the sense that there is still so much for this Arsenal side to do. They haven't won anything yet, but if they carry on how they finished 2022, then 2023 is going to be something very special.
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