Arsenal win over Brighton 'not football'. Plus: Rodrygo ACL shock, ranking fairytales

Arsenal left the Amex Stadium with three points that felt stolen and a manager who will gladly accept the larceny. A 1-0 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion lifted Mikel Arteta’s side seven points clear at the summit, yet the numbers told a different story: an expected-goals figure of 0.01 at the interval, the lowest the Premier League has produced this season before Bukayo Saka’s speculative, deflected effort squirmed past Bart Verbruggen.

Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler was scathing afterwards, branding the visitors’ approach “not football” and lamenting the time-wasting that punctuated the second half. His side had dominated territory and possession, carving out the half’s clearest opening when Carlos Baleba lifted a delicate chip over David Raya, only for Gabriel to hook the ball off the line with a clearance as decisive as any of his attacking headers.

Arteta, now in his seventh campaign chasing the club’s first title since 2004, shrugged off the aesthetic critique. “We know what we’re here for,” he said. “Sometimes you have to win ugly.” Arsenal did exactly that, grinding through the final quarter-hour while Manchester City, their closest pursuers, were held 2-2 at home by Nottingham Forest despite posting the superior xG. Antoine Semenyo continued his remarkable winter surge—seven goals in 12 matches since joining from Bournemouth—but City twice surrendered the lead, allowing Morgan Gibbs-White to curl in a superb equaliser.

The stalemate leaves Pep Guardiola’s champions chasing a ghost: the gap to Arsenal is back to seven points with time running short. City had reeled off four straight wins in February to scent momentum; last night suggested the old killer instinct has waned.

Elsewhere, Michael Carrick suffered his first defeat as Manchester United boss, a 2-1 loss at Newcastle who played the entire second half a man down yet still pilfered victory in stoppage time. The result is unlikely to reroute either club’s trajectory, but at the bottom West Ham’s 1-0 win at Fulham drags them level on points with 17th-placed Forest and drags Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur back into the relegation mire.

Off the pitch, Real Madrid confirmed Brazil forward Rodrygo will miss the upcoming World Cup after rupturing an ACL and meniscus in Monday’s 1-0 loss to Getafe. Further reporting revealed the 25-year-old had been playing on a partially torn ligament since 2023, with the club opting for preventative treatment until the joint finally gave way. Fernando Torres, the player’s representative, insisted Madrid had pursued “the most appropriate solutions,” yet the case highlights the gamble clubs and players take when surgery is deferred in an overloaded calendar.

The schedule shows no sign of easing. FIFA’s congested calendar, exacerbated by a World Cup year, has intensified debate over injury risk and whether stars should manage—or operate on—lingering problems. Kylian Mbappé is currently navigating a similar tightrope.

Amid the gloom, the newsletter marked its 500th edition by ranking football’s modern fairytales. Ludogorets’ 14 straight Bulgarian titles—poised to fall one short of the world record—were tempered by billionaire backing, while Wrexham’s Hollywood-propelled rise through the English pyramid drew admiration if not romantic purity. Bodo/Glimt, the Arctic Circle minnows who reached the Champions League last 16 on a shoestring, scored seven from ten. Leicester City’s 5,000-1 Premier League triumph in 2016 and Zambia’s 2012 Africa Cup of Nations victory topped the list, reminders that, occasionally, the scriptwriters still favour the dreamers.

For Arsenal, the dream is increasingly tangible. Whether the football is beautiful or, as Hurzeler insists, something else entirely, Arteta’s side are proving they can prevail when the data says they shouldn’t. In a title race, that may be the most valuable metric of all.