Arsenal lost to Brighton and Hove Albion on Thursday night to slip to tenth in the table, meaning the North London club are now on their worst winless run since 1977. Defending was once again the heart of the problem against the Seagulls, who themselves had been without a win in their last four fixtures away from the Amex Stadium, as Arsenal failed to deal with two crosses which ultimately led to defeat.
Hector Bellerin, who has admittedly had injury troubles, did not look particularly sharp and was at fault for the second goal, allowing Aaron Mooy to cut back onto his favoured right foot and whip in a delivery for Neal Maupay to finish.
His mistake for the winner was not the only failing on the Spanish right-back’s behalf, for the first goal he did not even attempt to jump as Dan Burn comfortably rose above Bellerin to knock a header into the danger zone.
Throughout the game he was consistently lacklustre, making the joint lowest number of defensive contributions of any Arsenal player on the pitch with four; the same as Sead Kolasinac who was substituted after 71 minutes. The Spaniard also accumulated the joint highest number of fouls of any of the Gunners players, in what was an unusually off pace display.
Though Bellerin made the second-highest number of passes for Arsenal, he did not contribute a single key pass throughout the match. When he did venture forward, the Spaniard also managed to fire in four crosses, all of which failed to find a teammate. Meanwhile, only half of his long balls were accurate ones.
A disappointing performance culminated with being dispossessed once, as well as having a single unsuccessful touch. Overall it was a miserable night for the 24-year-old as Arsenal’s slump continued. If they are to address that run the Spaniard’s displays will need to improve significantly.
