EPL: Brighton defeat big lesson for Arsenal, says Arteta

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta described Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by Brighton as a “big lesson” for the Premier League champions after they suffered their first loss of the season.n

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Brighton dominated from the start at the Amex Stadium, with Pascal Gross and Charalampos Kostoulas scoring long-range goals before half-time.

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Chema Andres then headed in a third from a corner early in the second half as Arsenal suffered their heaviest defeat in more than three years.

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“Extremely disappointed. First of all I think we have to congratulate Brighton for the victory, I think they deserve it,” said Arteta.

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“I think they were the better team. From our side there were certain basics that you need to accomplish in football, especially in the Premier League, that we were very far from.”

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Arsenal had been tipped to cruise to the title after ending their 22-year wait to be crowned champions of England last season.

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The Gunners had also made a strong start to the new campaign, winning all seven of their previous matches in all competitions before the defeat at Brighton.

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However, Arteta said the result was a timely reminder of the demands of the season ahead of a three-week international break.

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“It’s a big lesson for us,” added the Spaniard.

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“That’s not going to take away what the team has done and the boys have done in the last six or seven weeks since coming back from the World Cup.

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“With 18 players coming back, what we’ve done and the way we’ve competed and the amount of games we’ve won has been remarkable.

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“But this is a big lesson for all of us to understand what it takes to win at this level.”

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