Joao Pedro dents Arsenal title hopes as Brighton earn a point
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Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge suffered a setback after Joao Pedro’s second-half penalty earned Brighton a 1-1 draw at the Amex Stadium. The second-placed Gunners were on course to cut the gap on leaders Liverpool to three points following an early opener from 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri.
But, after being felled by an accidental headbutt from William Saliba, stand-in Seagulls captain Pedro fired home from the spot to level in the 61st minute. The result leaves Mikel Arteta’s men five points adrift of Arne Slot’s table-topping Reds, having played two games more, while 10th-placed Albion deservedly registered a sixth draw of an eight-match winless run which stretches back to November.
New England manager Thomas Tuchel was among those in attendance as Arsenal arrived in Sussex seeking to claim a fourth successive top-flight victory to keep up the pressure at the top. Gunners captain Martin Odegaard dropped to the bench due to illness as part of three changes following the 3-1 New Year’s Day success at Brentford, while top scorer Kai Havertz remained sidelined because of sickness.
The visitors edged ahead in the 16th minute by capitalising on the first notable chance of the match. England Under-19 international Nwaneri, who once again deputised for the injured Bukayo Saka, collected Mikel Merino’s pass around 40 yards from goal and ran unchallenged down the right before driving towards goal and calmly slotting under Seagulls goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
Having opened his account against Nottingham Forest in November, the teenager became only the sixth player to score more than one Premier League goal before his 18th birthday after Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, Danny Cadamarteri, James Milner and Federico Macheda.
