By Our Reporter
Premier League champions Arsenal suffered their first league defeat of the season on Saturday after Brighton & Hove Albion produced a dominant 3-0 victory at the Amex Stadium, while Tottenham Hotspur’s difficult start continued with a 3-2 home loss to Aston Villa.
Arsenal had won their opening four league games and seven matches across all competitions before meeting an impressive Brighton side.
Pascal Gross broke the deadlock in the 31st minute, sending a low effort against the post and into the net. Arsenal came close to an equaliser through Bukayo Saka, but Brighton quickly extended their advantage through Charalampos Kostoulas.
Chema Andres completed the scoring after the interval when he headed home from Gross’ corner to seal a convincing victory for the hosts.
The result lifted Brighton to third place with 10 points from five matches, while Arsenal remained on 12 points, level with Manchester City. City have the opportunity to move three points clear when they face Sunderland on Sunday.
Tottenham’s problems deepened at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Aston Villa secured their first league victory of the campaign.
Johan Manzambi gave Villa the lead in first-half stoppage time before Nicolas Jackson doubled the advantage in the 67th minute. Emi Buendia then produced a spectacular long-range strike to put the visitors 3-0 ahead.
Tottenham mounted a late comeback, with Conor Gallagher and Jan Paul van Hecke finding the net, but Villa held on for all three points.
Spurs remain without a league victory after five matches and have collected just two points.
Elsewhere, Everton defeated Ipswich Town 1-0 to move into the top five, while Newcastle United edged promoted Hull City 2-1. Coventry City also secured their first Premier League points since returning to the top flight with a 1-0 win away at Nottingham Forest.