Arsenal's run of fine form, winning three games on the bounce in the premier league came to a halt on Saturday late kick off after the Gunners were held to a barren draw by Brighton and Hove Albion.
The hosts themselves have been on a very fine start to the season and would have gone top of the league had they won their match against Crystal Palace last Monday.
A warm return to the Amex Stadium for Ben White, who joined Arsenal from the Seagulls in the summer.
It poured heavily throughout the day and same continued all through the game, with the wind also affecting the flow of the ball.
It took just the first 60 seconds of the game for Arsenal to hit the ground running. Bukayo Saka, who was very impressive in the North London derby win raced at the Brighton defence, beating three defenders, before cutting on his left and letting fly a low shot, which was comfortably saved by Robert Sanchez in goal.
Brighton got their own chance in the 16th minute. A nice ball flighted by Jakub Moder into the path of Leandro Trossard, who cuts in on the right side, but his effort was well wide.
A sitter went begging from the hosts in the 21st minute. Aaron Ramsdale fumbling a cross into his territory and then went on to collide with Shane Duffy, allowing the ball roll to Lewis Dunk, who slides to hit the ball, but couldn't hit the target.
Two minutes later, Arsenal should have gone ahead. A counterattack led started by Takehiro Tomiyasu releasing Saka on the right side. The youngster running towards the byline before clipping the ball to the far post where it was met by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose header came off the poll and Brighton could clear. Perhaps, Saka should have released the ball earlier to give his captain a better chance.
Then, it was a flurry of attacks from Brighton as they continued to terrorize the Arsenal defence. It was Trossard who first headed wide of the goal after good work from Neal Maupay and Adam Lallana set him up well, before Dunk's cross was met by Dan Burn, who couldn't direct his header on target from close range.
The final of the strings of attack came from Maupay again, who tried to hit a shot on the turn, but could only manage to take it wide.
Arsenal finally got respite with few minutes to the interval. A cross from Emile Smith Rowe was deflected out of the box unto Thomas Partey on the edge of the box. The Ghanaian hit it first time, trying to find the bottom corner with a curling effort, but couldn't return the ball back on target with his effort.
Graham Potter's side continued from where they left off at half time with Lallana setting up Moder on the edge of the box. The Polish midfielder couldn't manage his effort on target. Perhaps the wind was not too helpful as well.
Another opportunity to break for Arsenal as Albert Sambi Lokonga released Aubameyang, who rounded Sanchez, but couldn't find the back of the net as Duffy made a last ditch tackle to prevent the goal. The flag was raised for an offside and the goal wouldn't have counted nonetheless.
Marc Cucurella made a cutback for Burn in the 70th minute, who lays it off for Trossard on the edge of the box. The Belgian, dummies with his right foot before taking the shot with his left. The head of Saka this time taking it away from goal.
A great opportunity was squandered by Arsenal in the 76th minute. Partey had made a defence-splitting pass to release Smith Rowe on goal, who had two options; square the ball to Nicolas Pepe in the middle or go himself from an acute angle. He chose the latter option and was denied by Sanchez at the near post much to the fury of his Ivorian teammate, who looked to have been in a better position to convert.
A goal for the Seagulls would have broken Arsenal's heart in the dying minutes of the game. A cross to the far post was headed back across goal by Solly March into the middle where Maupay was lurking for a tap in. A strong hand from Ramsdale took the ball away from the French striker and the Arsenal bench must have heaved a huge sigh of relied.
Late drama almost ensued as there were penalty shouts by the home side in additional time when Duffy looked to have gone down under the challenge from Lokonga. A quick VAR review would uphold the referee's decision to disregard the calls as both teams settled for a point each.
**Concluding Thoughts**
It was a hard-earned point for both team who both had chances to have won it, albeit Arsenal had the most clear cut chances with the efforts from Aubameyang and Smith Rowe.
Both managers may not be too displeased, especially with the part played by the weather, making the flow of the game more difficult.
A point going into the international break for both teams, who have had decent runs of form in the last rounds of games may not be too bad to build on when the league resumes in two weeks.
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