Two rounds of fixtures and just shy of an hour into the third, here was perhaps the first crucial moment in this season’s title race.
To talk of the first Premier League red card of Declan Rice’s career, so early into this campaign, in such terms might seem dramatic, but such are the stakes when trying to live with Manchester City, as this Arsenal team have had to learn.
Prior to it, the Gunners were on course to make it a perfect three wins from three heading into the international break, leading Brighton 1-0 through Kai Havertz’s opener, their defence still yet to be breached in the new term.
But after Rice was shown a second yellow card in a mad, confused mess by the far corner flag, as most of the Emirates expected Joel Veltman to be sent on his way instead, the Seagulls fought back, Joao Pedro earning the visitors a share of the spoils.
Booked in the first half, Rice conceded a cheap free-kick to Veltman and then while walking away edged the ball a few inches to his right, the kind of nonsense that goes on at every other dead ball. Veltman, shaping to take a quick free-kick, followed through with his plan anyway and lashed hard through where the ball had been and into the shins of Rice.
The overwhelming sense was of it being needless all-round. From Rice, yes, whose nudge of the ball was petulant, and also from Veltman, who could easily have seen the red card shown the other way. But above all, from referee Chris Kavanagh, who chose to make a game-altering decision of the flashpoint when common sense could easily have prevailed.
With Rice stunned, Kavanagh shrugged as if to say he had been left with no choice. The opposite was in fact true: he had let Pedro get away with a more blatant example of the same offence before half-time, when he cleared an already out-of-play ball to deny Arsenal the chance of a quick throw-in.
It was goalless at that stage, but the Gunners soon led. Havertz continued his fine start to the season by lifting home after being set clear by Bukayo Saka, who had shrugged off Lewis Dunk and spent the opening half an hour shredding makeshift teenage left-back Jack Hinshelwood to pieces.
Even after Pedro had swept home the rebound from Yankuba Minteh’s saved effort, the 10 men could have won it. Havertz, whose opener took his tally to 17 goal involvements in as many league matches since mid-February, made one chance for himself with a brilliant first touch and run, then another for Saka, whose finish was weak on the stretch.
Brighton, though, had openings too, the best of them for substitute Yasin Ayari kept out by David Raya, who was excellent again. By the end, it was Arsenal who had settled for the point, Raya infuriating sections of an eager crowd when delaying goal kicks and eventually earning a yellow card for time-wasting that saw frustrations funnelled towards Kavanagh once more.
So, it is Arsenal who have blinked first, the runners-up from last season dropping points heading into the international break and knowing they will start September already cast as chasers should City win at West Ham later on Saturday.
Even after an impressive start in 2-0 wins at home to Wolves and away at Aston Villa, there was an urgency to this fixture, with trips to Tottenham and the Etihad to come after the break.
The second of those, daunting already, was made more so before kick-off here, with the Champions League fixtures sending Arteta’s men away to Atalanta on the preceding Thursday night. City play their equivalent European fixture at home 24 hours earlier.
The first just got harder, too, with Rice suspended for the north London derby and new signing Mikel Merino no chance of being fit.
