The Gunners were reduced to 10 men as they saw a first half lead slip against the Seagulls.
Declan Rice was sent off in controversial fashion as Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton at Emirates Stadium.
Leading thanks to Kai Havertz’s fine lobbed finish in the first half, the Gunners looked well set to go on and make it three wins from three at the start of the new Premier League season.
But, just three minutes after the intreval, Rice received a second yellow card from referee Chris Kavanagh when he nudged the ball away from Joel Veltman just as a Brighton free-kick had been awarded.
Arsenal were incensed by the decision and will rightly point to an incident in the first half when Kavanagh took no action towards Brighton’s Joao Pedro, who kicked the ball away after the ball had gone out of play to prevent the hosts from taking a quick throw-in.
But Mikel Arteta’s side could also have defended better themselves in the incident that led to the visitors’ equaliser, with Gabriel Magalheas, William Saliba and Thomas Partey all failing to react quickly enough as Yankuba Minteh went through.
David Raya saved the initial shot, but the ball fell perfectly for Pedro who slotted home to maintain the Seagulls’ unbeaten start to the season.
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