Brighton & Hove Albion won at Arsenal for the first time ever as goals by Adam Webster and Neal Maupay sunk caretaker Gunners manager Freddie Ljungberg’s side 2-1 in the Premier League on Thursday.
Brighton’s first-half pressure paid off in the 36th minute when centre back Webster pounced on the ball as it came loose after a corner, poking home past Bernd Leno to give the visitors the lead.
Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette equalised five minutes into the second half with a high looping header from a Mesut Ozil corner which bounced in off the far post.
The home side briefly thought they had taken the lead when David Luiz shanked the ball home from a free kick, only for the Brazilian to be found clearly offside by VAR.
Instead, Brighton’s Maupay headed a cross from Aaron Mooy into the far corner past Leno in the 80th minute to give manager Graham Potter’s side a historic win in north London.
Arsenal now sit 10th in the table on 19 points, with Brighton a single point behind and three places below them in 13th.
In the night’s other game, an early header by Allan Saint-Maximin and a controversial Jonjoy Shelvey goal gave Newcastle United a smash-and-grab 2-0 win at Sheffield United in the Premier League on Thursday.
French forward Saint-Maximin fired the visitors ahead in the 15th minute and Shelvey netted in the 70th after Andy Carroll, who nodded the ball into his path, was initially ruled offside, only for a VAR check to let the goal stand.
The VAR review confirmed Carroll was onside but Shelvey raced clear and steered the ball past goalkeeper Dean Henderson after the linesman had raised his flag and the home team’s defenders went with the on-pitch decision.
While the freakish goal is likely to stir up more debate on the use of VAR, the evening’s plaudits will go to Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka who pulled off a string of superb saves to keep the Blades at bay.
Saint-Maximin got on the end of Javier Manquillo’s cross against the run of play as Dubravka kept frustrating the home side, having denied Oliver McBurnie and Enda Stevens before he palmed away a ferocious Oliver Norwood free kick.
Dubravka tipped over a close-range McBurnie header and with the home team’s onslaught fizzing out, Shelvey took advantage to confirm United’s first league defeat in eight games and lift Newcastle into mid-table.
REUTERS