MIKEL ARTETA is in seventh heaven as his unstoppable Arsenal saw the New Year in with a bang.
And the partying Gunners supporters are convinced that 2023 really is going to be something special after watching their exciting young team moving further away from the chasing pack.
Bukayo Saka got Arsenal off to a flyer at BrightonRichard Pelham / The Sun
Martin Odegaard doubled Arsenal’s advantage before the breakRichard Pelham / The Sun
Eddie Nketiah ended any hopes of a Brighton comeback just seconds after the restartRichard Pelham / The Sun
Gabriel Martinelli grabbed a fourth as Arsenal secured a seven-point lead at the topRichard Pelham / The Sun
Because if any of their title rivals are hoping that they are going to crack under the pressure of leading from the front, well, they had better think again.
Having started 2022 with a home defeat by Manchester City which left them trailing the League leaders by 18 points, Arsenal are now a barely credible seven points clear of Pep Guardiola’s team at the top of the table.
And though the despondent Brighton fans tried to spoil the party with chants of ‘You’ll f*** it up” it is becoming increasingly difficult to see how anyone can catch them from here.
Even with two games still to come against the fading Champions, Arsenal now have enough of a cushion to ensure their fate remains in their own hands all the way to the finishing line.
For though they might not have an unstoppable goal machine like Erling Haaland, that really doesn’t matter when you have so many players all chipping in
And even the loss of star striker Gabriel Jesus hasn’t been enough to knock Arsenal out of their swaggering stride.
It took them just 66 seconds to maintain their proud record of being the only top flight team to score in every of their League games this season.
And that early breakthrough enabled them to establish such a stranglehold that even a team as easy on the eye as Brighton were made to look positively pedestrian for much of this match.
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No-one has been in better nick for Arsenal this season than captain Martin Odegaard, and it was the ice-cool Norwegian who took control of this game right from the kick-off.
His surging run into the box threatened to take him all the way through to goal until Tariq Lamptey just nicked the ball off his toe.
But the Brighton full-back was immediately robbed by Thomas Partey before Oleksandr Zinchenko teed up Gabriel Martinelli in space out wide on the left.
Levi Colwill managed to get a head to the Brazilian’s shot but could only divert the ball straight to the lurking Bukayo Saka, who was never going to pass up that opportunity for his seventh goal of the season.
It was the perfect start for a team who were looking to send out a serious message to the chasing pack and they could have had the game sewn up within four minutes when Zinchenko spun past Lewis Dunk for a shot which keeper Robert Sanchez just managed to block.
The Brighton captain was further embarrassed by an Odegaard nutmeg as Arsenal turned the screw and Colwill just cleared ahead of the incoming Eddie Nketiah.
But Arsenal were not to be denied the second goal their efforts merited and it was no surprise that it should come from the boot of captain fantastic Odegaard.
Saka’s 39th minute corner was headed out by Billy Gilmour but fell perfectly for Odegaard to lash a shot into the ground and beyond the reach of Sanchez.
It was the kind of strike once perfected by Mesut Ozil, the playmaker whose boots have been seamlessly filled by the new Arsenal idol.
Unlike Ozil, though, there is no ego about the understated Odegaard, who provides all the vision and drive without any of the dressing-room tantrums of his Emirates predecessor.
It was all Brighton could do to get to half-time without sustaining any further damage, but if Roberto De Zebri was hoping to use the break to regroup he was to be sorely disappointed.
This time it took Arsenal all of 100 seconds from kick-off to find the net when Sanchez could only push Martinelli’s fierce cross-shot straight into the path of the lurking Nketiah.
And with Moises Caideco suspended and Alexis Mac Allister still not recovered from his World Cup exertions with Argentina, there was no way back for the sorry Seagulls from there.
They thought they were back in business when Pascal Gross’ 65th minute reverse pass freed Kaoru Mitoma to reduce the deficit with a precise shot into the bottom corner.
But any thoughts of a comeback were ended six minutes later when Odegaard’s magnificent first time pass sent Martinelli haring away from Lamptey to restore the visitors’ three-goal lead.
And though teenage sub Evan Fergusuon was able to capitalise on William Saliba’s poor control to net his first Premier League goal, it wasn’t enough to prevent their opponents from disappearing into the distance.
Mind you it might have been a lot tighter had Mitoma’s 89th minute shot through the legs of Ganit Xhalka not been ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside.
But now it’s third placed Newcastle who must try to stop the red juggernaut when they travel to the Emirates on Tuesday night.
Because if Arsenal win that one they will be so far ahead of the pack that their rivals are going to need binoculars.