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Arsene Wenger celebrated the 21 st
anniversary of his arrival at Arsenal in
winning style as the Gunners cruised to
a 2 - 0 victory over Brighton on Sunday .
There are many reasons for Arsenal
fans to look back fondly on the day
Wenger was hired but, after several
years of underachievement , the
Frenchman finds himself engaged in a
fight to restore his tarnished reputation .
It is too early to predict whether
Arsenal can end their 13 - year wait to
win a fourth Premier League title under
Wenger, but there were some
encouraging signs as Brighton were put
to the sword at the Emirates Stadium .
Nacho Monreal opened the scoring in
the first half before Alex Iwobi ,
converting Alexis Sanchez ’s majestic
assist, wrapped up the points after the
interval .
Arsenal’ s sixth win from their last seven
matches in all competitions moved them
to within six points of leaders
Manchester City heading into the
international break .
Fittingly, Wenger marked his milestone
date with a notable record of his own .
Brighton are the 45 th different Premier
League club to be defeated by Arsenal
since Wenger took over in 1996,
breaking the record he shared with
Manchester United legend Alex
Ferguson.
Just 64 hours after winning at Belarus ’ s
Bate Borisov in the Europa League on
Thursday , Arsenal were back in action
and Wenger freshened up his side by
making nine changes .
Wenger this week claimed Arsenal are a
more unified team since the transfer
window closed just after their
humiliating 4 - 0 defeat at Liverpool .
There was ample evidence to support
that theory as his team tore into
Brighton right from the start .
Alexandre Lacazette almost gave them
the perfect start after just 65 seconds
when his fierce drive flashed past
Albion goalkeeper Mat Ryan, only to
cannon back off a post .
Albion striker Tomer Hemed was
serving the first of a three- game
suspension, so Izzy Brown started up
front and the youngster went close with
a header from Pascal Gross’ s free - kick .
That effort aside , it was one way traffic
as Wenger’ s men left Brighton trailing
in their wake time and again .
Irrepressible
Sanchez and Iwobi tested Ryan from
long - range before Monreal gave Arsenal
the lead in the 16 th minute.
Granit Xhaka ’s free - kick to the far post
was headed back by Lacazette and after
Shkodran Mustafi had his shot cleared
off the line , Monreal chested down and
fired home from 10 yards .
It was Monreal ’s first league goal for
Arsenal since March 2013 and the
Spanish defender celebrated with a fist -
pumping roar of delight .
Solly March nearly silenced Arsenal ’s
cheers moments later when he
unleashed a powerful 20 - yard shot that
crashed back off a post .
The Gunners should have doubled their
lead before half- time when Brighton
defender Lewis Dunk slipped , putting
Lacazette through on goal .
But Lacazette let Brighton off the hook
with a tame shot straight at Ryan, while
Aaron Ramsey saw his low strike
repelled by the Australian keeper
following an incisive Arsenal counter .
Those misses didn ’t prove a source of
regret as Sanchez produced a sublime
contribution to set up Iwobi ’s first goal
since January in the 56 th minute .
Exchanging passes in a blur of
movement, Ramsey and Lacazette
worked the ball smoothly into Sanchez
inside the penalty area .
Faced with three Albion defenders ,
Sanchez knew a shot would be blocked ,
so he instinctively guided a back - heel
towards the unmarked Iwobi , who had
the simple task of firing home from
eight yards .
Sanchez was in irrepressible mood and
it took a combined of Dunk and Ryan to
keep out his goal - bound shot , before
Sead Kolasinac ’ s header was cleared off
the line by March .
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