Ian Wright explains how Mikel Arteta's Arsenal neutralised Roberto De Zerbi's Brighton

Arsenal legend Ian Wright said Brighton's approach of passing out from the back played into his old side's hand in their 2-0 loss at the Emirates on Sunday.
Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal celebrates after scoring against Brighton & Hove AlbionGabriel Jesus of Arsenal celebrates after scoring against Brighton & Hove Albion
Gabriel Jesus of Arsenal celebrates after scoring against Brighton & Hove Albion

Albion were well beaten thanks to second-half goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, as the hosts had 26 shots to the visitors' six in north London.

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi has brought the Seagulls unprecedented success with his brand of football but former Gunners striker Wright felt that only made things easier for Mikel Arteta's men.

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One example of that was when Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen had a pass intercepted on the edge of his area and although the Jan Paul van Hecke made an excellent block to stop a goalbound shot - Jesus scored from the resulting corner.

On Match of the Day 2, Wright said: "They [Brighton] played into Arsenal's hands because Arsenal want to press anyway. When you look at the way Brighton were playing, it literally called Arsenal on. You can see Arsenal are very organised, you can see Brighton want to play out [from the back] and at some stage they are going to have to see they are in a situation where they haven't got many options but they still try.

"The pressure is on. All the Brighton players are marked up. Can they play into the forwards? What else can they do? There is no way out. This is all Brighton's doing.

"They go back to the goalie [Verbruggen], poor ball into the middle, easily cut out and they should have scored from that but they scored from the resulting corner. Nobody picks up Jesus and they score. It was really, really good play for Arsenal, the way they kept at it."

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Brighton can be caught out if a team's press is fast enough and sufficiently organised but often, De Zerbi's side can outmanoeuvre an attack, and the tables are turned. On this occasion it didn't work, but that is unlikely to stop the Italian from abandoning this approach.