Arsenal leaves it late at Forest
Goal from halfway line helps Brighton
Arsenal’s Ben White (centre) challenges for the ball with Nottingham Forest’s Liam Delap during an English Premier League soccer match in Nottingham, England, Sunday. (Matty Garry / The Associated Press)
A breathtaking 50-metre strike stood out among the five goals scored by Brighton in the latest big win from this season’s surprise package in the Premier League.
As for Arsenal, the defending champion just needed one goal — a late one from substitute Noni Madueke — to see off Nottingham Forest on Sunday. Manchester United ended a turbulent week by scrapping out a 1-1 draw at fierce rival Leeds.
Evoking memories of David Beckham’s famous goal from the halfway line for Man United 30 years ago, Brighton midfielder Diego Gomez boldly launched a shot from just inside Crystal Palace’s half and the ball flew over stranded Palace goalkeeper Walter Benitez into the net for an instant goal-of-the-season contender in England’s top division.
It was the second of three goals in the opening 10 minutes for Brighton, which swept to a 5-0 win over Palace and another statement victory in a campaign that has already seen the south-coast team overwhelm Arsenal 3-0. As well as an own-goal, Brighton also had goals from Yasin Ayari, Charalampos Kostoulas and Jack Hinshelwood at Amex Stadium and moved up to third place with the win.
Only three teams — Arsenal (2009-10), Man United (2011-12) and Manchester City (2019-20) — in Premier League history have scored more after seven matches than Brighton’s 23 goals, according to stat supplier Opta.
It was the worst possible result for Palace manager Oliver Glasner, who was under pressure even before a heavy loss to his club’s biggest rival. The Frenchman apologized to fans and said he didn’t know if he’d be given time to turn things around after two wins in seven matches.
Unlike Brighton, goals aren’t proving so easy to come by for Arsenal, which has 11 from seven games at the start of its title defence. Madueke was the matchwinner for the defending champions after coming on as a halftime substitute, with the England winger cutting inside in the 80th minute and sending in a shot that deflected past Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels. That was Arsenal’s only shot on target in the entire match.
“We showed grit, determination — we showed a champion spirit here tonight,” Madueke said.
Arsenal moved back into second place, three points behind Manchester City in a title race that is clouded in controversy now that City has been found guilty of large-scale financial breaches that are set to result in severe sanctions should the team lose its appeal.
Four days after his headline-grabbing outburst following a Champions League loss, Lisandro Martinez started for Man United at Elland Road but was substituted at halftime — by which time his team was leading Leeds thanks to Bryan Mbeumo’s 35th-minute strike. Leeds equalized in the 51st through Dominic Calvert-Lewin, leaving Man United with just one win from its first seven league games this season — the fewest by this stage for the club in 40 years — and just two victories from 10 games in all competitions.