The start of the English League Cup competitions invariably produces surprises and giant-killing. Arsenal, sitting at the top of the Premier League, which included nine straight home victories in all competitions, could make no progress in the Carabao Cup, being knocked-out, 3-1, in the third round by a slick Brighton side.
The Gunners, in fairness, did field a much-changed team, giving some of their bigger stars a day off, keeping in mind the important Premier League fixture at the weekend against Wolverhampton Wanderers, their last match before the six-week break for the World Cup in Qatar.
For Brighton this was an impressive win. They have begun to shape well under the new manager, Roberto Di Zerbi after Graham Potter left to take over at Chelsea, having done a fine job with the Seagulls.
Arsenal took the lead in the 20th minute through the combined effort of Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah. Nelson made an excellent 50-yard run before putting through a pass from just outside the box to Nketiah on the left who hit a right-footed curling shot into the far corner of the Brighton goal.
But the lead wasn’t to last for long as six minutes later, the visitors equalised. It came about through an error by Arsenal 20-year-old debutant goalkeeper Karl Hein whose confidence would have been dented with such a mistake.
He had come out to face Danny Welbeck’s run towards the Arsenal goal and slipped but then recovered and brought down Welbeck. Fortunately for him he wasn’t sent off. The resultant penalty was well taken by Welbeck, a former Arsenal player, and the score at half-time was 1- 1.
On Hein’s error, the Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “Everybody has been supporting him, everybody was supporting him straight after. We all make mistakes, me the first one, the players all the time and it’s part of the game. He needs to carry on. When you make an error it’s about how you react, not about the error. This is going to happen in his career and it happened today unfortunately.”
After the break the Gunners missed several chances. Nketiah hit the post with a firm drive and Nelson’s header was superbly saved by Jason Steele. But it was the substitute Kaoru Mitoma, brought on at half-time who put Brighton ahead in the 58th minute, bending a lovely shot from the left in similar manner to Nketiah’s effort earlier for Arsenal.
With twenty minutes still remaining, Brighton went further ahead. Full-back Tariq Lamptey burst through after receiving a pass from Billy Gilmour and slid in a shot beating Hein from a tight angle. It was his first goal for the club for more than two years and it came on a memorable night of victory over the Gunners.
Despite sending on substitute striker, Gabriel Jesus in an attempt to breakdown Brighton and stay in the competition, Arsenal’s Carabao Cup campaign was over.
