In Arsenal’s current form, not many sides will proudly claim to have come away from the Emirates with three goals and a victory to their name, but Brighton maintained their professionalism against a second-string Gunners side to pick up a deserved win in the EFL Cup.
Roberto De Zerbi’s men were on top before Eddie Nketiah drew first blood, but Danny Welbeck’s penalty preceded second-half strikes from Karou Mitomaand Tariq Lamptey as Brighton progressed to the fourth round, where they will now meet Charlton Athletic.
Victory at the Emirates came only a few days after De Zerbi’s side had scored three on rival turf at Molineux to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the top flight, and Brighton are now aiming to win four games on the bounce in all competitions for the first time since their Championship days in April 2017.
Better late than never for the new manager bounce to kick in, as Brighton continue to hover around the European places in sixth spot in the table – two points behind Manchester United and just five adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have played a game more.
If scoring 10 goals in their last three games is not reason to believe that an exciting showdown should be on the cards, Brighton already have a joint-high six goals in the opening 15 minutes of Premier League games this season, level with none other than Aston Villa.
Four days after kicking off his second Premier League reign with a 3-1 win over Manchester United, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery quickly renewed hostilities with Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford for the EFL Cup, but the Dutchman earned his slice of revenge in a 4-2 thriller.
Ollie Watkins and a Diogo Dalot own goal either side of Anthony Martial’s response had put Villa 2-1 up on the night, but Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandesand Scott McTominay all breached the Lions’ defence to hand Emery a bit of a reality check.
The former Arsenal and Villarreal boss could not have been expecting an exact replica of Villa’s performance from their 3-1 win over the Red Devils in the Premier League, though, but that inaugural success sees the Lions sit safely in 13th place and three clear of the drop zone – still far from where they aspire to be as a club, though.
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Defeat at Old Trafford proved that away day performances are still a sticky point for the West Midlands side, who have now lost three on the bounce on rival territory – conceding 11 goals in
that spell – and they are one of only four sides without a Premier League win on the road this term, the others being Brentford, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest.
Aston Villa managed to claim a pair of 2-0 victories over Brighton in the 2021-22 Premier League season, having only managed to win one of their previous four top-flight meetings with the
South coast side, but the Lions have never claimed successive victories away from home in this fixture, and their defensive frailties on the road are unlikely to help them in that regard.
