Brighton star agrees with Fabian Hurzeler and slams Arsenal tactic

Pascal Gross has sided with his manager Fabian Hurzeler and questioned whether fan will be turned off football is Arsenal are allowed to get away with their time wasting tactics.

Mikel Arteta was defiant in the face of accusations that his side were guilty of faking injuries after a 1-0 win sent them seven points clear at the top of the Premier League.

The visitors were poor at the Amex Stadium and their goal had more than a stroke of fortune as Bukayo Saka’s shot in the ninth minute bamboozled Bart Verbruggen.

Thereafter Brighton were frustrated by Arsenal’s habit of delaying the restart of the game at free-kicks, while David Raya went down injured on three separate occasions and required treatment on the pitch, leading head coach Fabian Hurzeler to accuse the visitors of ‘making their own rules’.

Arteta though made it clear he was unmoved after a dogged win, coupled with Manchester City’s draw with Nottingham Forest, ensured they took a firm grip of the title race.

‘What a surprise,’ he said when informed of Hurzeler’s claims. ‘If you go back through previous games you will find a lot of comments like this, always.

‘I love my players. That’s the highlight. I love my players and I love the way we compete. When you’re in the position we are in, obviously (opposition fans) want to take that away from you. That’s normal, that is sport.’

Asked whether he cared what other league managers thought of him and his team, he replied: ‘No comment.’

Brighton largely dominated the game but neither side created many chances. Arsenal were a long way from at their best, careless with the ball and too accommodating in letting Brighton play through them in midfield.

Nevertheless, they dug in for a third league win in a row, and on a night when City dropped points at home this was one more fixture crossed out in their Premier League title push.

Afterwards Hurzeler gave a coruscating assessment of the league leaders.

‘I think there was only one team that tried to play football today,’ the Brighton boss said. ‘Did you see in a Premier League game a goalkeeper going down the times? No?

‘We shouldn’t waste too many words about that tonight. We can’t control these kind of things. The Premier League has to find a rule.

‘In the end it’s about the rules. If the Premier League and referee allow everything, then it’s difficult. They make their own rules. At the moment I have the feeling they are doing their own rules.’

Gross, meanwhile, agreed with his compatriot who was frustrated his side failed to get anything out of a contest they held the upper-hand in for large parts.

He said: ‘In the second half, we had two or three chances. We didn’t finish the attack; it’s the only thing we missed today.

‘We found a lot of solutions against them. We created a lot. It wasn’t the case today, so we are disappointed that we outplayed them.

‘No words needed for that for Arsenal. I said my opinion on it. Everyone can make their own decision, but I’m sure you don’t like to watch these football games. Football fans want to see a football game, not time-wasting.’