Gross Tears Into Arsenal's Time-Wasting Tactics After Brighton Defeat

Pascal Gross has waded into the post-match row between Brighton and Arsenal, delivering a withering assessment of the Gunners' approach during their Wednesday evening encounter at the Amex.

The Brighton midfielder believes his side deserved more from a performance where they had the better of proceedings, only to fall to Bukayo Saka's first-half finish. That goal proved decisive as Arsenal stretched their table-topping advantage to seven points, though Manchester City remain just a point behind with a game in hand and an April showdown at the Etihad still to come.

Gross was unsparing in his criticism, insisting that spectators "want to see a football game, not time wasting" and suggesting Arsenal's approach undermines the sport itself. Speaking on BBC Match of the Day, the midfielder reflected on Brighton's efforts: "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 didn't give away many chances. A good performance, really good effort but in the end, we're disappointed about the result."

He continued: "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. I'm really proud of my fans for how they supported us. Everyone can make their own decision, but I'm sure you don't like to watch these football games. I made my point and I think it's a fair point."

Speaking separately to TNT Sports, Gross expanded on his gripes about Arsenal's defensive methods. "From corners, they block us, they don't even watch the ball. That's how it is, but it's also why they keep a clean sheet. They defend strong and on the edge. It kills the rhythm. If you watch the games back, they're very good at doing it. They take time setting things up for themselves. It plays in their favour."

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler had already launched his own salvo before kick-off, complaining about Arsenal's time-wasting and pointing out that goalkeeper David Raya went down injured three times during the contest. The German manager suggested "only one team who tried to play football" was on show, and has called on the authorities to introduce stricter measures to curtail such tactics.

Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, showed little interest in engaging with the criticism. When asked to respond to Hurzeler's comments, the Arsenal boss kept it brief: "What a surprise. You can just go back to the previous games and you will find a lot of comments. I love my players. That's the highlight. I love my players, we love our players, and I love the way that we compete."