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Fabian Hurzeler says 'I will never be that kind of manager who tries to win in that way' as he accuses Arsenal of time-wasting in their 1-0 win over his Brighton side Hurzeler says 'there was only one team who tried to play football' with Arsenal scoring from one of just two shots on target in the match - stats It's a result that moves Arsenal seven points clear at the top of the Premier League after Manchester City draw 2-2 at home to Nottingham Forest Mikel Arteta responds by saying 'I love my players, we love our players and I love the way we compete' Elsewhere, West Ham shake up the relegation picture with a crucial win away at Fulham - they stay in the bottom three but are now level on points with Forest Tottenham are now just a point above the bottom three and play Crystal Palace on Thursday night Also: Chelsea improve Champions League hopes with big win at Aston Villa | 10-man Newcastle earn hard-fought 2-1 win in Michael Carrick's first defeat as Man Utd interim What you've been saying: Sam - 'Incessant time wasting is devaluing the product' | Paul on Brighton's 'time-wasting' | Alex - 'Arsenal are not anti-football' Written by Ben Ramsdale, Craig Nelson & Huzaifah Khan. Brighton 0-1 Arsenal John Cross Daily Mirror Chief Football Writer on BBC Radio 5 Live I think it's added to the sense that Arsenal are the pantomime villains as the team everyone else loves to hate. I think it's been a bit unfair on Arsenal in the last month or so because they look like a team that's tired. They're certainly not playing at their best, nowhere near. I think at points this season they've played really, really well and played like a team that is worthy of champions, and I'm thinking of maybe the second half against Bayern Munich or when they played brilliantly against Aston Villa and Tottenham twice. It's unfair to cast them as the ugliest team in Premier League history as such. It almost feels like the moment to get it done because there's not much left in the tank. Click 'Get Involved' to have your say Arsenal will win the league from here and are the best of a very average bunch this year, BUT they don’t compare well when put against any champions of the last 10 years. When your supposed world class forward has 6 league goals, you’re not up there with the greats. Andy, Leigh The league in general has been dull this season. The quality of football overall hasn’t been great, most matches haven’t been amazing to watch - it’s a continuation of a downward trend. Football used to be an enthralling art. Now it’s been reduced to a tactical science. Dave, The Cotswolds Brighton 0-1 Arsenal John Cross Daily Mirror Chief Football Writer on BBC Radio 5 Live At times, it felt it was painful, it was ugly and it certainly prompted a war of words between the managers afterwards. Fabian Hurzeler didn't hold back on Arsenal's tactics and Mikel Arteta's dark arts that he's introduced into the Arsenal ranks. A bit of time wasting and tactical fouls, Arsenal were pretty ugly last night but it's all about the result at the moment, and Arsenal got it. Then to celebrate as Arsenal did with their fans in the away end, to suddenly realise Manchester City dropped two points as well it felt like a particularly pivotal night in the title race. Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Danny Murphy Former Liverpool midfielder on BBC Match of the Day Arsenal were disappointing going forward. There was a lack of creativity. As little as I've seen in quite a while from Arsenal - credit to Brighton as well. But there's this mentality with Arsenal all over the pitch to defend properly and recover and protect. They're physically good. They're strong, they're good aerially, quick, athletic. That's elite mentality and a willingness to defend. And he creates that, Mikel Arteta, because he won't accept anything else. Click 'Get Involved' to have your say Two things can be correct - this Premier League season has been awful and the lowest quality we’ve seen in some time and hasn’t been entertaining.

But Arsenal deserve to win the league by being the most consistent out of an inconsistent bunch. Jack, Bromsgrove Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Micah Richards Former Man City defender on BBC Match of the Day In terms of Arsenal and the way they set up, it's not just the back line, it's how they do it. And people have talked about Arsenal in terms of being boring, they can't win the league like this, but they're getting over the line and that is the difference at the moment. I would say Man City play better football and take more risks, but Arsenal are defensively better. 14 clean sheets this season in 30 games, that's just brilliant. Brighton 0-1 Arsenal It wasn't the best night with regard to performance level for Arsenal on Wednesday evening. Brighton dominated the stats on the night from possession down to expected goals (x G) but the one the Seagulls didn't dominate? The goals column. Are Arsenal displaying some of those vintage title winning results in recent weeks? Or will their luck run out? Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Rob Green Former West Ham goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live Arsenal can keep playing badly and winning all they like. It's the others that are faltering. Manchester City are faltering. And you just look at this Arsenal side and how they go about winning games, they manage to just grind out results and that's all they've done tonight. They've had a stroke of good fortune. There's not one player that can turn around and say they had a good game, except maybe Hincapie and maybe one or two others defensively. They don't care, they won. Click 'Get Involved' to have your say Think people are being too quick to jump on the "Arsenal are boring/not playing proper football bandwagon". Top of the league and joint highest scorers in the league; if they're boring, what does that say about all other teams? Doug, Newcastle Arsenal, the top scorers in the league, shouldn't be taking advice from a manager who has made Brighton worse since he took over and is presumably just trying to turn attention away from him being under pressure to be sacked. Stuart, Essex Arsenal are not anti-football. 1st (joint with MCY) for goals scored, 3rd for shots, 4th for XG. The majority of teams vs Arsenal sit with 11 players behind the ball - that is anti-football. Alex, Kent Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Arsenal Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta later came to the defence of his players during his post-match news conference. When told about the comments of Pascal Gross and Fabian Hurzeler, Arteta said: "What a surprise. "You just go back to the previous games and you'll find a lot of comments like this always. ” He added: "I think they love our players. I mean, every time they talk about our players, I think they are the most loved ones in the country. "We look after our own garden. " Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Arsenal Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, speaking to TNT Sports: "This was a really difficult one after everything we've been through in the last few weeks. "Every game in the Premier League offers you different things. Big credit to the boys because the effort they put in is astronomical. " On opening up a seven-point gap on Manchester City: "We did what we had to do and that is what we will continue to do. " Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton's Pascal Gross, speaking to TNT Sports: "Arsenal play for the title, they're very solid, not easy to score against. We created some half-chances. They didn't create much. When you go 1-0 down, it's always tough and we couldn't score. They played the game until the end. " On penalty shout: "I've not seen it back. When I go in the box, the way they defend on the edge, also with corners. "From corners, they block us, they don't even watch the ball. That's how it is, but it's also why they keep a clean sheet. They defend strong and on the edge. "It kills the rhythm. If you watch the games back, they're very good at doing it. They take time setting things up for themselves. It plays in their favour. "Sometimes we missed the last pass or the finish. We need more belief that we can do it. " Click 'Get Involved' to have your say Brighton were high energy, high pressure and all action - Arsenal were simply resolute in defence and took the only chance they made. Deryck, Bedfordshire There were 22 players on the pitch last night, not just the 11 in red and white. If Hurzeler wanted to light up the Premier League with his signature brand of pure tiki-taka football, there was nothing stopping him. Arsenal were poor, true. Brighton also created virtually nothing. Ashley, Milton Keynes Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton's Pascal Gross, speaking to BBC Match of the Day: "In the second half, we had two or three chances. We didn't finish the attack, it's the only thing we missed today. We didn't give away many chances. A good performance, really good effort but in the end, we're disappointed about the result. "We found a lot of solutions against them. We created a lot. It wasn't the case today, so we are disappointed that we outplayed them. "No words needed for that for Arsenal. I said my opinion on it. I'm really proud of my fans for how they supported us. Everyone can make their own decision, but I'm sure you don't like to watch these football games. I made my point and I think it's a fair point. Football fans want to see a football game, not time wasting. " Ben Ramsdale BBC Sport It isn't just Fabian Hurzeler that made his feelings clear last night. Brighton midfielder Pascal Gross had a pop, too. It's all the drama Mick, I just love it! Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Brighton & Hove Albion More from Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler: "Statistics never lie. We conceded one shot on the goal, we created a lot of chances but overall we lost. I loved the effort from my boys, I loved how they played football. "I think there was only one team who tried to play football today and therefore I am proud how they did it. "I ask one question. Do you see in a Premier League game a goalkeeper going down three times? No. So I think we shouldn't waste too much words about that tonight, we should focus on us. " Click 'Get Involved' to have your say Arsenal currently represent anti-football. They may well be effective in winning games, but they are missing the point that fans come to games to be entertained. Premier League will need to intervene, as the incessant time wasting and gamesmanship is devaluing a globally renowned product. Sam, Brighton Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler: "We can't control these kind of things. I think therefore the Premier League has to find a rule. It is not my business. I might have been complaining about one action of time wasting. There were so many so could be one action of that. "There are different kinds of winning. If they win the Premier League, nobody will ask how they win the Premier League. You can really feel that they will do everything to win this game. In the end it is about the rules, if the Premier League and the referee allows everything then it is difficult. Then they make their own rules. At the moment I have the feeling they are doing their own rules no matter how they are playing. " Brighton 0-1 Arsenal Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler: "I will never be that kind of manager who tries to win in that way. I want to do well. I want my players to keep improving, keep playing football on the pitch. "In the end, of course, every team will manage and waste time, but I think there has to be a limit, and the limit has to be set by the Premier League. The limit has to be set by the referees, at the moment they just do what they want. "If I would ask now everyone in the room if he really enjoyed this football game I'm sure maybe one raises his arm because he is a big Arsenal fan but besides that, no chance. " Click 'Get Involved' to have your say My favourite moment of the game came when a Brighton player stood over our free-kick so we couldn’t take it quickly - and Hurzeler was complaining that we were time wasting! Paul Last Updated 5th March 2026 at 01: 16 Please Note: All times UK. Tables are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made. Copyright © 2026 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.