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Arsenal\u2019s hopes of a top-four Premier League finish were all-but extinguished as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Brighton.<\/p>\nArsenal\u2019s hopes of a top-four Premier League finish were all-but extinguished as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Brighton.<\/p>\n
With Tottenham losing on Saturday and Manchester United held at Huddersfield earlier in the day, a win for Unai Emery\u2019s side would have taken them to within a point of Spurs in fourth.<\/p>\n
Instead they head into the the final day three points adrift and with an inferior goal difference to their north London rivals after Brighton toasted their survival with a deserved point.<\/p>\n
Everything looked to be going Arsenal\u2019s way when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a disputable eighth-minute penalty \u2013 Nacho Monreal going down under seemingly minimal contact.<\/p>\n
But Emery\u2019s side, who beat Valencia 3-1 here on Thursday night in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final tie, could not maintain their fast start.<\/p>\n
Brighton, whose top-flight safety was confirmed when Cardiff lost at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, showed more attacking will than in recent weeks and earned a share of the spoils as Glenn Murray also converted from the spot after Granit Xhaka fouled Solly March.<\/p>\n
Unlike their shaky start against Valencia, Arsenal were straight out of the blocks and Henrikh Mkhitaryan hit the inside of Mat Ryan\u2019s right-hand post with less than two minutes gone.<\/p>\n
They hit the front shortly afterwards with a contentious penalty, referee Anthony Taylor pointing to the spot after he adjudged Alireza Jahanbakhsh to have tripped Monreal.<\/p>\n
Aubameyang made no mistake, sending Ryan the wrong way to move onto 20 Premier League goals for the campaign.<\/p>\n
True to form for much of the season, Arsenal nearly shot themselves in the foot with a comedy of defensive errors.<\/p>\n
Goalkeeper Bernd Leno passed the ball straight to March on the edge of his box and came tearing out to close down as his defense failed to clear on a number of occasions.<\/p>\n
The German goalkeeper made amends by keeping out Murray\u2019s header, with March hitting the side-netting moments later.<\/p>\n
Ryan had to be at his best to get down low and push out a Shkodran Mustafi diving header from Xhaka\u2019s corner and then turn an Aubameyang strike behind, Mkhitaryan also stinging the Australian\u2019s palms before the interval.<\/p>\n
It was Brighton who saw most of the ball at the start of the second half, March testing Leno at his near-post as the visitors went in search of an equalizer.<\/p>\n
It came with 61 minutes on the clock, Taylor awarding the Seagulls a penalty after deeming Xhaka had felled March.<\/p>\n
Murray tucked away the resulting spot-kick to level up the game with Brighton then sitting deep and frustrating their hosts.<\/p>\n
Aubameyang fired a volley wide when he should have re-established the lead as Emery made a triple substitution with Alex Iwobi, Matteo Guendouzi and Sead Kolasinac all introduced for the final 15 minutes.<\/p>\n
But it was March who came close to winning it for Brighton, forcing a fine stop from Leno as Pascal Gross could only thrash the rebound wildly off-target.<\/p>\n
The performance from the home side saw plenty of their fans head for an early exit, with many of those who remained jeering at full-time despite the post-match lap of honor and farewells for the retiring Petr Cech and Juventus-bound Aaron Ramsey.<\/p>\n