Nicolas Pepe scored yet another brace as Arsenal cruised past Brighton and Hove Albion to finish eighth in the Premier League, missing out on European qualification for the first time in 25 years.
The game against Brighton witnessed the return of fans to the Emirates stadium. The noisy 10,000 of them in attendance were holding posters reading ‘Kroenke out, fans in’.
The Seagulls started the game brightly but the north London club grew into the game with a couple of long-range efforts from Thomas Partey.
The Gunners put the ball in the back of the net around the half-hour mark through Rob Holding but it was deemed offside. The home team continued to pile pressure and their best chance came from another central defender, Gabriel. The Brazilian headed the ball towards the far post but could only hit the crossbar.
Nicolas Pepe finally broke the deadlock in the 49th minute with an exquisite finish, controlling a cross from Calum Chambers with his left foot before striking it past Robert Sanchez in Brighton’s goal with his right foot.
However, Alex Mac Allister could have equaled the score for the visitors after a quick counterattack but his shot ended up wide.
The fear of squandering the lead was put to bed when Pepe scored once again in the 60th minute. Martin Odegaard, who could have played his last game for the club, placed a perfect through ball to the Ivorian who made no mistake in scoring. It was reminiscent of the second goal he scored in midweek against Crystal Palace.
Mikel Arteta’s men continued to dominate the proceedings and Partey came close to scoring a third, as the Ghanian’s effort crashed against the bar.
The final minutes of the game were all about game management for Arteta. The Spaniard brought on Alex Lacazette, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Smith Rowe, and Martin Odegaard.
The dominant display was not enough for the North Londoners to finish in a European spot and this result brought an end to Arsenal’s record of playing in Europe for every season since the 1995-96 campaign.
