Premier League: Odegaard scores first goal as Arsenal beat Brighton 2-1

Martin Odegaard’s first goal of the season and a Georgino Rutter own goal helped Arsenal beat Brighton 2-1 in London. David Raya’s late save preserved the win, taking Arsenal back to the top of the Premier League table

London: Skipper Martin Odegaard scored his first goal of the season to help Arsenal prevail over Brighton 2-1 in a home match and move back to the top of the Premier League table on Saturday.

Odegaard powered home from just outside the area before Georgino Rutter flicked into his own net from a Declan Rice set piece to double the Gunners’ advantage. Brighton fought back and reduced the deficit through a Diego Gomez strike in the 64th minute. It then took a stunning David Raya save to deny Yankuba Minteh and preserve the three points, taking Arsenal to 42 points from 18 matches and maintaining their two-point lead over Manchester City.

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Arsenal started strongly, with Viktor Gyokeres forcing Bart Verbruggen into an early save after being played in by Leandro Trossard. Bukayo Saka also tested the Brighton keeper from a tight angle.

The breakthrough came in the 14th minute when Saka found Odegaard in space on the edge of the box, and the Norwegian drilled his effort low and hard beyond Verbruggen. It was his first goal since netting Arsenal’s final strike of the 2024/25 campaign against Southampton.

Arsenal continued to dominate, creating several chances but went into half-time 1-0 up after 15 attempts at goal. Early in the second half, Rice’s inswinging corner was flicked into his own net by Rutter to make it 2-0.

Brighton hit back in the 64th minute when Yasin Ayari’s shot struck the post and fell kindly for Gomez, who smashed home the rebound. The visitors pressed for an equaliser, but Arsenal’s defence stood firm, with Gabriel Magalhaes returning from injury to bolster the backline.

Former Gunner Danny Welbeck’s introduction gave Brighton more attacking presence, but Raya’s brilliance denied them a leveller. Arsenal nearly sealed the contest late on when Saka set up Gabriel Martinelli, but the Brazilian fired over.

Arsenal will next face Aston Villa on Tuesday (Dec 30) in their final match of the year.