Arsenal slay bogey team Brighton to give themselves another glimpse of the summit

Arsenal (0) 2 Jesus 53, Havertz 87

Brighton (0) 0

It was about time the Gunners started to get their house in order when it comes to home matches against the Seagulls.

Second half goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz - yet another for the ex-Chelsea man who is now acquiring something like cult status for his new club - settled the outcome after a frustrating first half.

It was enough to take the Gunners to the top of the table - at least until Liverpool v Man United in the evening.

For Havertz, it was his fourth in seven Arsenal games. That winner at Brentford last month really did unlock his inner Gunner.

Brighton arrived on the back of three successive wins at the Emirates and four of the last five visits have yielded victories and they fancied their chances of another upset.

The latest of those put paid to any lingering title ambitions in May - a sorry 3-0 defeat for Mikel Arteta's men which captured the gloom that surrounded that collapse in the run-in.

The Gunners were soon pinning back Brighton in the final third and setting up those weaving patterns on the edge of the area - probing for weaknesses in the Lewis Dunk-constructed armoury.

Martin Odegaard whistled one just wide as the Gunners overloaded down the right to try and profit from the apparent mismatch that was Bukayo Saka versus James Milner down the flank.

Gaby Martinelli also spooned over a Saka cutback with the Seagulls keeper Bart Verbruggen out of position, but it was hardly an avalanche of chances and the possibility of disappointment grew.

All that evaporated soon after the restart, when Saka's inswinging corner reached an unmarked Jesus at the far post for a simple nod home - the ball having flicked off the head of defender Jean Paul van Hecke on the way.

The game should have been put to bed when Martinelli's chip was headed over the bar by Havertz but Albion stayed very much in the hunt and almost drew level when Pascal Gross stabbed just wide from a Kaoru Mitoma cross.

Arsenal made sure that lost points would not happen after the slickest of moves involving birthday-boy Odegaard and sub Eddie Nketiah - a pass finding Havertz who strode forward to finish the job.

Gunners: (4-3-3) Raya - White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko (Kiwior 90+5) - Odegaard, Rice, Havertz (Smith Rowe 88) - Saka (Nelson 88), Jesus (Nketiah 81), Martinelli (Trossard 81

Seagulls: (4-2-3-1) Verbruggen - Veltman (Hinshelwood 26), van Hecke, Dunk, Milner (Julio 60) - Gross, Gilmour - Adingra (Welbeck 79), Lallana (Buonanotte 60), Mitoma - Ferguson (Pedro 60)