Arsenal went into 2023 seven points ahead of their nearest rivals in the race for the Premier League title after beating Brighton 4-2 on Saturday, while Manchester City and Newcastle United were held to a 1-1 and a goalless draw by Everton and Leeds United respectively.

The Gunners ended 2022 top of the Premier League and will hope that, just like the other teams who led the Premier League with seven points by the new year, they go on to win the title at the end of the season.

The gunners did not wait for long before kick-off to break the deadlock at the Amex Stadium as Bukayo Saka opened the scoring with less than two minutes on the clock.

Martin Odegaard doubled the advantage before halftime, while Eddie Nketiah seemed to have put the game beyond Brighton minutes after halftime until Kaoru Mitoma pulled one back for the Seagulls.

Gabriel Martinelli made it 4-1, but Evan Ferguson’s goal was only a consolation. Mikel Arteta was delighted that his side was able to win with a good performance against the seagulls.

“We knew the result, but the boost is we have to come here and win, and to do that, we have to perform at the highest level in this league. We had to have a big performance to win against a really good Brighton side. We had to dig in as well.” Arteta said.

Meanwhile, despite Erling Haaland’s first goal, Demarai Gray’s stunning effort in the second half denied Manchester City all three points.

On Sunday, Serge Aurier’s second-half goal denied Chelsea all three points at the City ground in Nottingham despite Raheem Sterling’s first-half goal.

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur came off worse after a second-half capitulation to Aston Villa in a 2-0 loss, and on Monday, Liverpool will travel to Brentford.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu