Brighton’s three scorers were 35, 19 and 21, and Arsenal lost for the first time this season
Pascal Gross, Charalampos Kostoulas and Chema Andres ended the champions’ seven-match winning start at the Amex, and Arsenal conceded three in an afternoon having let in one in four league games.
Sep 19, 2026
Arsenal arrived at the Amex on Saturday having won all seven of their competitive matches this season. One more would have equalled their best start in 123 years. Brighton beat them 3-0, and the three men who scored were 35, 19 and 21.
Pascal Gross went first, in the 31st minute, with a low shot from the edge of the box that went in off the inside of the post. Gross rejoined Brighton in January, after a spell at Borussia Dortmund that followed seven years on the south coast. He turned 35 in June.
Charalampos Kostoulas doubled it on the stroke of half-time, striking from around 25 yards and finding the far corner. Brighton paid Olympiacos £31.4 million for him in the summer of 2025, when he was 18.
The third came in the 57th minute from a corner, headed in by Chema Andres while David Raya appealed for a foul. Andres had been a Brighton player for 18 days. He joined from Stuttgart on deadline day for around 22 million euros, half of which went to Real Madrid, who had let him go to Germany 13 months earlier and chose not to buy him back.
One goal conceded in four games, then three in an afternoon
Arsenal had let in one Premier League goal all season before kick-off. They have now let in four. Mikel Arteta’s team are the reigning champions, having ended a 22-year wait for the title in May, and this was the first match they have lost since the season started, in any competition.
Brighton had not beaten them since 14 May 2023, which was also 3-0 and also a clean sheet. Arsenal had gone seven matches unbeaten against them since, winning both league games last season. The manager who beat them in 2023 was Roberto De Zerbi, who spent Saturday afternoon watching his Tottenham side lose at home to Aston Villa.
What made it worse for Arteta is that none of it was a smash and grab. Brighton were ahead on shots and on expected goals by half-time and pressed Arsenal into their own half for long stretches. Fabian Hurzeler’s side have now scored 16 league goals in five games, more than anyone else in the division, and 11 more than they have conceded.
Where it leaves the table
Arsenal stay second on 12 points from five. Manchester City are top on the same total from four games, and they play Sunderland on Sunday. Brighton move up to third on 10.
Nobody plays again for three weeks. The September and October international windows have been merged into one 16-day break this season, so the next round of league matches is on 10 October. Arsenal will spend it as champions who have lost once, which is a strange thing to be defensive about, and Brighton will spend it having beaten the champions with a midfielder they signed 18 days ago.