Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie was seen shushing Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler during last night’s Premier League match.
The Gunners won 1-0 away at Brighton thanks to an early goal from Bukayo Saka, but it was far from a typical game for Mikel Arteta’s side.
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Hürzeler strongly criticized Arsenal in the post-match press conference, stating that only Arsenal teams are trying to play football.
The Seagulls manager also apparently made this clear to Hincapie at one point, something the Ecuadorian international clearly didn’t understand with his cheeky response…
The footage shows Hürzeler telling Hincapie and Arsenal players to “play football”, with the Gunners ace appearing amused as he tells the German tactician to shut up.
Fabian Hürzeler criticizes Arsenal’s tactics
“I think there was only one team that tried to play soccer today, so I’m proud of the way they did it,” Hürzeler said after the game.
He added: “I never want to be a manager who tries to win in that way. I want to do well. I want the players to continue to develop and continue to play football on the pitch.”
“Of course, in the end every team will manage and waste time, but I think there should be limits and those limits have to be set by the Premier League. Limits have to be set by the referees. At the moment they are just doing what they want to do.”
| statistics | brighton | arsenal |
| Possession | 59.9% | 40.1% |
| shot | 11 | 7 |
| shot on target | 3 | 2 |
| Touch inside the opponent’s box | 29 | 18 |
A big night in the title battle between Arsenal and Manchester City
A lot of attention may be focused on Arsenal’s style of play, but the fact is they were huge winners last night, picking up three points against Brighton, while their nearest rivals Manchester City surprisingly dropped points at home to Nottingham Forest.
City twice took the lead against Vitor Pereira’s side, but were twice trailed and had to settle for a 2-2 draw.
The result leaves Arsenal seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, but City still have a game in hand and the gap could still be cut to four points.
But overall, this is a big psychological boost for Arsenal as their recent good results have put them back in the lead in the title race.
The away game against Brighton was by no means easy, and this win followed important wins away against Tottenham and at home against Chelsea.
City may have missed a huge chance last night in what would have been a routine win against a relegation-chasing team, as Arsenal probably have an easy game left.
