Soccer

Thomas Partey urges Arsenal to quickly move on from frustrating Brighton draw

The Gunners’ Premier League title challenge was dented at the Amex Stadium.

Thomas Partey (left) has urged Arsenal to forget about their draw at Brighton
Thomas Partey (left) has urged Arsenal to forget about their draw at Brighton (Jonathan Brady/PA)
By Ed Elliot, PA

Thomas Partey says Arsenal must quickly forget about Saturday’s momentum-stalling 1-1 draw at Brighton as attention turns to the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final.

The Gunners’ Premier League title challenge was dented at the Amex Stadium after Joao Pedro’s disputed penalty wiped out Ethan Nwaneri’s first-half opener.

Partey admits Arsenal’s players were left deflated by a result which halted their winning run at three top-flight games and failed to put significant pressure on leaders Liverpool.

Joao Pedro’s penalty earned Brighton a point
Joao Pedro’s penalty earned Brighton a point (Jonathan Brady/PA)

“We are sad, frustrated, everybody is down but that’s part of football,” he told arsenal.com.

“We wanted to win, we wanted to keep the momentum going and at the end of the day, we didn’t get it.

“But it’s also a positive one because we did not lose. We have to try our best and win these games because they’re the most important ones, but it’s not an easy game against a good side and to win here you have to be perfect.

“We need to forget (about Saturday) and keep on working hard to win our next game.”

Mikel Arteta’s men start a run of five successive home matches on Tuesday evening by beginning their two-legged League Cup tie with Newcastle.

The Gunners then face Manchester United in the FA Cup third round, Premier League clashes with Tottenham and Aston Villa and a Champions League match with Dinamo Zagreb.

“I’m very excited, we have to prepare well,” Partey said of the visit of Eddie Howe’s Magpies.

“We know how difficult it is to play against them, the quality that they have, the players they have, we have to be ready for them.

“It’s going to be amazing; we know how big the supporters are and the big part they play in the games that we play, and we’ll need them for this game.”

Midfielder Partey filled in for the suspended Jurrien Timber at right-back on the south coast, while captain Martin Odegaard was only fit enough for a second-half cameo due to illness and top scorer Kai Havertz was again absent because of illness.

Martin Odegaard came off the bench
Martin Odegaard came off the bench (Jonathan Brady/PA)

Manager Arteta was also without Raheem Sterling, Bukayo Saka, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu before subbing 17-year-old goal scorer Nwaneri at half-time due to a muscular issue.

Despite the current selection issues, the Spaniard will not rush into recruiting reinforcements during the transfer window based on the performance in Sussex.

“Obviously we cannot make a decision based on one performance on one day where there are a lot of circumstances – not only the players that were lost, but the sub to take Ethan out, the one with Martin is introduced for very limited time,” he said.

“Hopefully on Tuesday we will be in a better position, let’s see.”

Brighton’s improved second-half showing secured a sixth draw of an eight-match winless run which dates back to November.

Moving towards an FA Cup tie at Norwich and league visits to Ipswich and Manchester United, Seagulls boss Fabian Hurzeler wants his side to sustain a performance for 90 minutes.

“If you want to beat a team like Arsenal, one good half can be enough but we have to play more consistently like we did in the second half,” he said.

“We have to be better physically and mentally, to start differently and play a game the way we want to play with intensity for 90 minutes.”