LONDON: Misfiring Arsenal spurned the opportunity to reclaim first place in the Premier League as they lost 2-0 to spirited fellow Lon­d­o­ners West Ham United at the Emir­a­tes while Tottenham Hotspur went down in a six-goal thriller against Bri­ghton and Hove Albion on Thursday.

West Ham only had three efforts on target but Tomas Soucek gave them a halftime lead before former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos extended the advantage after the break.

Arsenal had more than twice as many chances but failed to take any as the visitors defended gamely.

Second-placed Arsenal remain on 40 points, two behind Liverpool who beat Burnley 2-0 on Tuesday.

“This is a very disappointing night for us,” Arsenal manager Mikel Art­eta told reporters. “We have to put the ball in (the net) and win it (the game).”

West Ham took the lead against the run of play after 13 minutes when Soucek netted after a pull-back from Jarrod Bowen who looked as if he just managed to keep the ball in play.

“It’s difficult because the ball was in the air,” Bowen told Amazon Prime. “It was hard to tell. It would have been easier to tell if it had been on the ground.”

After that it was an Arsenal blitz with Bukayo Saka hitting the post and Gabriel Jesus missing two good chances before Mavropanos scored his first league goal for the Hammers with a thumping header from a James Ward-Prowse corner in the 55th.

“I think the best moment to score my first goal for West Ham and in the Premier League,” said Mavropanos. “We work a lot on the set-pieces, so it was great. It is an important win for everyone and for our boss. We are really happy.”

West Ham could have made it three from three chances but Said Benrahma had a penalty saved by David Raya in added time after a foul by former West Ham captain Declan Rice.

The defeat raises familiar questions about Arsenal’s title credentials. They led the league this time last year only to falter in the run in and be overtaken by Manchester City.

The win leaves West Ham in sixth place on 33 points and marked a landmark night for their manager David Moyes who had never won at Arsenal in the league in 22 attempts.

In the night’s other fixture, Tottenham, this season’s early pacesetters, remain in fifth spot after losing 4-2 despite threatening an astonishing comeback from 4-0 down against Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton.

Jack Hinshelwood finished with brutal power to put the home side ahead following a weaving run from Joao Pedro along the edge of the penalty area.

Brighton doubled their lead from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute through Pedro, who took full advantage after Dejan Kulusevski was penalised for a pull on Welbeck.

Brazil forward Richarlison twice had the ball in the net after the break but both times he was ruled offside.

Pervis Estupinan stretched the lead with a thunderbolt from 30 yards in the 63rd minute and Pedro scored a second penalty 12 minutes later.

Alejo Veliz grabbed what appea­red to be a consolation goal in the 81st minute but it galvanised the visitors.

Ben Davies headed home Pedro Porro’s deep cross as Spurs threatened to cut through every time they poured forward, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg hitting the post during nine frantic minutes of stoppage time.

But Brighton withstood the intense pressure to take all three points.

“I am really lucky to be this coach of this team with these players,” De Zerbi told the BBC. “I am very pleased with the passion they have, they have everything.

“You can’t forget we are Brighton. Sometimes they forget we are Brighton. We are not Manchester United, Manchester City, Newcastle or Arsenal, we are still Brighton.”

Meanwhile, Spurs manager Ande Postecoglou, whose team are missing some key players including playmaker James Maddison, central defender Micky van de Ven and centre back Cristian Romero, admitted his team lacked their usual energy.

“I know I say I don’t make excuses but that doesn’t dismiss the enormous efforts of the players, not just today but through this whole period,” Postecoglou told reporters.

“They give everything they have, even today. Everything they had in them physically they gave to this game even though sometimes we weren’t as sharp as we have been.

“It’s difficult. It’s been difficult this whole run. We’ve been stretched for a very long time and we’ve just tried to play through it. That’s what we’ve done and we’re only in the position we are because of the enormous efforts of the players to do jobs that normally is not in their brief.”

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2023