Arsenal's hopes of Champions League football next season sustained a significant blow after they were beaten 2-1 at home by a Brighton side that had scored just one in seven before their visit to the Emirates.
Mikel Arteta bemoaned a "cold atmosphere" inside the Emirates that he feels was the fault of his own players. "We created a cold atmosphere, an atmosphere we weren't comfortable with. When we tried to change it, it was too late," the Spaniard explained. " The first half was really poor, the reaction that we wanted to show, we didn't make it happen on the pitch. We were sloppy on the ball."
The Gunners looked way off the pace from the first whistle, failing to create any kind of meaningful chance or enjoy a spell of intense pressure until it was far too late in the day. Leandro Trossard opened the scoring just shy of the 30 minute mark when he fired home from close range having found himself in acres of space inside the Arsenal penalty area.
