Brighton Demolish EPL Champions Arsenal 3-0 (FIND BELOW RESULTS OF MATCHES PLAYED IN MAJOR EUROPEAN LEAGUES SATURDAY, 19 SEPT, 2026)

*Arteta Speaks

*In-form Raphinha Downs Sevilla With Another Hat-Trick

By Ed Aarons, at the Amex Stadium, and Renato Goncalves, in Spain

So much for the new Invincibles. Arsenal were, today, brought back down to earth with a shuddering bump by a scintillating display from Brighton as coach Fabian Hürzeler’s vibrant side celebrated the club’s 125th anniversary in style.

The special edition shirts they wore to mark the occasion will end up being collector’s items after the Premier League champions were ripped apart.

Arsenal were attempting to record an eighth successive victory in all competitions to start the new campaign for the first time since 1903 when they were still known as Woolwich Arsenal.

Instead, it is Brighton – inspired by first-half goals from the veteran stand-in captain, Pascal Gross, and the exciting teenager Charalampos Kostoulas – who find themselves in third place, two points behind Arsenal.

New signing Chema Andrés made the points safe from a corner 12 minutes into the second half. That meant Arsenal conceded three goals for the first time since December 2023 in all competitions and Mikel Arteta is most concerned that it could easily have been more against the division’s top scorers, 16 in five games.

The Brighton home supporters waved blue and white flags before kick-off as the players swapped their usual kits for a deep blue limited edition shirt that was inspired by their first season in Southern League Division Two in 1901.

That has caused controversy among fans after originally being listed on sale for £150 in a package that included a letter of authenticity from the club owner, Tony Bloom, and a keyring. Given this is the only time they will wear it, those who shelled out will be pleased they did now.

What has made Brighton’s goalscoring exploits so impressive is that they have managed it almost completely without their first-choice attack due to injury, while last year’s top scorer, Danny Welbeck, was sold to Chelsea in the summer.

Georginio Rutter returned as a late substitute, but the damage had already been inflicted by then, thanks to Gross and Kostoulas.

Jurriën Timber looked leggy on his first start since March and Bruno Guimarães was disappointing on his first Premier League start for Arsenal.

Myles Lewis-Skelly’s energy and drive in midfield was sorely missed in the week he was recalled to the England squad.

Proceedings Kick Off, First Goal Arrives

From the first whistle, Kostoulas – signed last summer for £30m – led Brighton’s fearsome press that provoked Arsenal into a number of uncharacteristic errors, including a misplaced pass from Guimarães that forced David Raya to tip a deflected effort from the 19-year-old around the post.

Raya was also guilty of donating possession to the lively Yasin Ayari in a dangerous position. Arsenal and Arteta looked rattled for the first time this season.

Christos Tzolis could not take a rare opportunity on the break after being picked out by Bukayo Saka and they were made to pay for it just after the half-hour mark.

Perhaps wary of the unmarked Ayari to their left, Gabriel Magalhães and Riccardo Calafiori were slow to challenge Gross when he received the ball on the edge of Arsenal’s area from Kostoulas and the veteran picked his spot perfectly off the inside of the post.

Ayari came close to doubling the lead five minutes before half-time when he fired into the side-netting before Kostoulas did.

Goal Number 2

Saka had just spurned a great chance to equalise after being set up by Martin Ødegaard and once again Gabriel was guilty of ball watching as the Greek striker thumped the ball past Raya from 25 yards.

Arteta immediately sent out Max Dowman, who scored two goals against Ipswich in midweek, to warm up. He must have been tempted to throw the 16-year-old on at the start of the second half as Kostoulas went close again for Brighton.

Goal Number 3

It was too late once Andrés nodded in at the far post from a pinpoint Gross corner.

“Are you Tottenham in disguise?” sang the delighted Brighton fans.

Arteta introduced Dowman with 10 minutes remaining as he emptied his bench.

But having been knocked off the top of the Premier League on goal difference courtesy of this heavy loss, there will be plenty of soul-searching during the three-week international break for the Arsenal manager.

Arteta Reacts

“They deserved to win the game and it’s a big lesson for us,” said a disappointed Arteta, who felt his players were not their usual combative selves.

“From the first throw-in you could sense it, it was so clear. We put ourselves in trouble one time, two times, three times and we need to get out of that much quicker than that. That’s one of the biggest lessons that we have to take from the game.

“We knew how tough it was going to be and the first thing we had discussed was about the first part. If you don’t get out of that first part as winners, it will be extremely difficult to dominate the game and to have any probability of winning the game. At this level, it’s extremely important to respect and to understand [that] before anything else,” he noted.

Loss, A Wake-up Call For Arsenal?

Asked whether this was a wake-up call after nine straight league wins that included them being crowned champions for the first time in 22 years in May, Arteta said: “For us it’s crystal clear. We knew and we talked for two days about what we have to do here. We played the fourth away game in a really short period of time.”

Raphinha Scores Another Hat-Trick, Downs Sevilla

Barcelona remained perfect to start the season an made it seven wins out of seven in La Liga, thanks to a 3-1 comeback victory away to Sevilla tonight.

After a tricky first half in which they fell behind early, the Blaugrana fully dominated the final period and captain Raphinha scored a second hat-trick in four days to lead Barça to another win as the Catalans will go into the international break comfortably on top of the table.

How First Half Went, Sevilla Score First, Barca Equalize Swiftly

The first half was played at a slower pace given the hot temperatures and high humidity in Seville, so Barça were unable to play as intensely as they wanted.

Lamine Yamal hit the post in the Catalans’ first big chance, but the visitors never got out of first gear and struggled to dominate the game.

Sevilla started in a low block but slowly sensed they could take more risks going forward, and took the lead as Youssouf Fofana headed home a cross from the left to put the home team in front.

Barça responded right away with their best move of the half as a wonderful through ball from Andreas Christensen found Raphinha in the box, and the captain sat down his defender and passed the ball into the net for a glorious equalizer.

That turned out to be the only moment of quality from Barça, however, as the Blaugrana got into good positions but constantly wasted good attacks in the final third and also lost easy balls in midfield that ignited a few Sevilla counter attacks.

One of those counters almost resulted in a clear chance for Félix Correia, but Rodri made a sensational intervention inside the box to avoid further trouble.

The hosts finished the half as the better team and the crowd was alive, and the game was all square and wide open at the break with Barça needing to show plenty of improvement to their overall play in the second half.

Second Half, Raphinha Scores A Brace

Barça showed all the necessary improvement in their play to start the second half: the Catalans kept the ball and moved it with more precision and sharpness in midfield, controlling Sevilla’s counter-attacks and getting a stronghold in the contest for the first all night.

They completed the comeback 10 minutes into the period as Yamal won the ball high up the pitch, fought for it inside the box and eventually assisted Raphinha who headed home his second of the night.

Barça lost Christensen to a thigh injury but remained in control, and did a much better job of passing the ball through the Sevilla press.

And it was a great bit of press resistance that led to the third goal as Pedri and Rodri combined in the middle and the ball found Yamal, who released Raphinha all alone with the keeper and the captain dinked it over Vlachodimos to complete a perfect hat-trick and double the Barça lead.

The visitors were able to cruise to the finish as Sevilla offered zero threat in the final minutes, and the final whistle came to give them three more points.

Sevilla offered a solid test in the first half but Barça showed their superiority in the second, and secured another quality victory in what is always a tough environment at the Pizjuán.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Arteta…sad as the goals rolled into his team’s net.

RESULTS OF MATCHES PLAYED IN MAJOR EUROPEAN LEAGUES SATURDAY,19 SEPT,2026:

ENGLAND: Premier League

Tottenham – Aston Villa 2-3
Brighton – Arsenal 3-0
Everton – Ipswich 1-0
Newcastle – Hull 2-1
Nottingham – Coventry 0-1

FRANCE: Ligue 1

Paris FC – Strasbourg 2-1
Angers – Troyes 2-0
Le Mans – Lorient 2-1
Lyon – Rennes 4-0
Toulouse – Le Havre 3-2

GERMANY: Bundesliga

B. Monchengladbach – Mainz 3-4
Eintracht Frankfurt – Freiburg 2-2
Hamburger SV – FC Koln 2-1
Werder Bremen – Augsburg 3-2
Stuttgart – Dortmund 0-1

ITALY: Serie A

Bologna – Torino 1-1
Udinese – Cagliari 0-1
AS Roma – Inter 2-2
Venezia – Lazio 0-2

NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie

Den Haag – Cambuur 1-1
Sparta Rotterdam – Heerenveen 0-4
Ajax – Excelsior 2-2
Willem II – Sittard 0-1

SPAIN: LaLiga