Brighton 2-4 Arsenal: Player ratings as Gunners end 2022 seven points clear

Arsenal finished 2022 seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table after they beat Brighton 4-2 at the Amex on New Year’s Eve.

Buoyed by earlier results, the Gunners took a quick lead on the South Coast as Bukayo Saka coolly slotted home with the contest barely a minute old. Brighton soon regained control, however, but the visitors landed a killer blow before the break and doubled their lead through Martin Odegaard.

As we know, a 2-0 lead in this division is very rarely secure, but the Premier League leaders rapidly dashed any doubt over who tonight’s victor would be when Eddie Nketiah poked home a third just 106 seconds into the second half.

Kaoru Mitoma’s goal ignited a brief Brighton resurgence, but Gabriel Martinelli restored Arsenal’s three-goal advantage when he latched onto Odegaard’s pinpoint pass before scoring.

The resilient hosts didn’t go away, however, and they scored a second after Evan Ferguson capitalised on a William Saliba mistake. That set up a rather chaotic finish which facilitated a rare Rob Holding Premier League appearance, but Arsenal clung on to their 4-2 advantage to move seven points clear at the top.

Brighton 2-4 Arsenal player ratings

Here are the Arsenal player ratings from their New Year’s Eve victory at the Amex.

Goalkeeper & Defenders

Aaron Ramsdale (GK) – 5/10 – Two goals conceded and a couple of hairy moments from set pieces in albeit testing conditions.

Ben White (RB) – 6.5/10 – Dealt with Mitoma’s one-vs-one threat well, but did have a few issues containing Pervis Estupinan’s third-man runs from deep. Still, White produced a couple of standout moments with and without the ball.

William Saliba (CB) – 4.5/10 – Is Saliba becoming error-prone?

Gabriel (CB) – 7/10 – How the tables have turned! The once imperious Saliba has seemingly caught Gabriel’s bozo gene, which seems to have escaped the Brazilian. Despite picking up an unnecessary booking for time-wasting before half-time, this was yet another composed showing from the left-footed defender.

Oleksandr Zinchenko (LB) – 6.5/10 – The wise old (he’s 26, I know) head returned to the starting XI and immediately had an impact by playing a role in Arsenal’s opener. This was a steady Zinchenko performance, but he makes such a difference.

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