Arsenal have returned to the summit of the Premier League after fending off Brighton at the Emirates.
The Gunners watched Manchester City move to the summit after their hard-fought win over Nottingham Forest in the day’s early kick-off.
But a victory in north London on Saturday afternoon sees them go two points clear of Pep Guardiola’s side again.
Mikel Arteta’s side dominated the first-half with Martin Odegaard’s strike from the edge of the box opening the scoring after 14 minutes.
With Declan Rice operating at right-back with Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori both ruled out ahead of kick-off, Arsenal began the second-half looking for the goal to kill the game off.
Rice supplied the second, again from a corner kick which caused panic in the Brighton box with Georginio Rutter heading past his own goalkeeper.
Brighton ensured it would be a nervy finish however after pulling one back 12 minutes later.
Yasin Ayari struck the post with a precise effort with Diego Gomez reacting quickest to fire home the rebound.
Brighton had their chances to draw level with David Raya keeping them at bay with a magnficent save to deny Yankuba Minteh.
Arsenal had chances of their own to wrap the game up with Gabriel Martinelli firing over the bar from yards out.
The Gunners also welcomed Gabriel Magalhaes back from injury – another boost to their title bid which stayed firmly on track against the Seagulls.
Relive the action with Metro’s LIVE matchday blog.
