Brighton 1-1 Arsenal - 3 takeaways as injury bug hits Gunners again

Arsenal was forced to settle for a 1-1 draw away at Brighton, with more injury concerns coming out of the game.

Arsenal missed the chance to put some serious pressure on league leaders Liverpool with a 1-1 draw away at Brighton.

In truth, the Gunners likely struggled to deserve a point given the manner in which the hosts played in the second half, but a point is better than nothing.

Youngster Ethan Nwaneri opened the scoring after Mikel Merino sent him through down the right-hand side. The teenager took his shot well, and despite Bart Verbruggen getting a hand on it, it still made its way into the net.

After changes by both teams at halftime, Brighton emerged the better side and after an incident between William Saliba and Joao Pedro, the hosts were awarded a penalty, which Pedro slotted home.

Brighton looked the side more likely to score the winner, but it never came as the Gunners were forced to settle for a point.

Here are three takeaways from the draw with Brighton.

Injury bug strikes again

It's official. We can't have nice things.

After scoring the team's opening goal, Nwaneri was taken off at halftime, seemingly protecting the youngster who has played a fair bit of first-team football lately, but we know now there's something more sinister going on.

Mikel Arteta told the BBC post-game that it is bad news for Ethan and that the team thinks they've "lost him," which is another cruel blow to a squad that is already thin at many positions.

When it rains, it pours.

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