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Not long after Manchester City had gone top with a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest, Arsenal responded in the 15th minute when Odegaard scored with a clinical finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box as the hosts punished a poor goal kick from Brighton's Bart Verbruggen. At the end of a fairly uneventful first half, Gunners fans were apoplectic that Verbruggen was not sent off for a meaty challenge on Viktor Gyokeres, with the Dutchman escaping with a booking. The home team should have been 2-0 up at the interval but Verbruggen did superbly to deny Martin Zubimendi and then Leandro Trossard fired over from a tight angle.
The north London team got the breathing space they yearned for when Declan Rice's teasing corner was headed into his own net by Rutter seven minutes after the break. Just when it looked like Arsenal would romp away with this one, Yasin Ayari's shot bounced off the post, and Gomez smashed in the rebound in the 64th minute. The hosts were then indebted to goalkeeper David Raya, who made an astonishing save from Yankuba Minteh's fierce curling strike. Substitute Gabriel Martinelli should have settled the game three minutes from time but he could only sky Bukayo Saka's pinpoint cross as Arsenal maintained their two-point cushion over Pep Guardiola's City.
GOAL rates Arsenal's players from Emirates Stadium...
