IN just 24 hours Arsenal have gone from stealing Sterling to the penny dropping – on the prospect of a brutal trio of trips.
And the Gunners will face their eight-day away nightmare with the extra woe of Declan Rice being banned for one match after his first ever red card.
A day after Arsenal borrowed Chelsea attacker Raheem Sterling for the season, Brighton ended the Gunners’ 100% Premier League record with a 1-1 comeback draw at the Emirates.
And Rice’s contentious dismissal was the turning point.
Bukayo Saka lobbed the Gunners in front but his England team-mate was sent off for the softest of second bookings – after nudging the ball away to stop the Seagulls taking a quick free-kick.
Joao Pedro then rewarded Brighton’s growing pressure with a point-saver.
Saturday’s setback for Mikel Arteta‘s men comes ahead of what could be their toughest spurt of fixtures in the whole season.
Arsenal resume after the international break with a visit to their biggest rivals Tottenham on Sunday, September 15.
Then comes Arsenal’s Champions League group opener four days later – at Serie A side Atalanta.
And the following Sunday, September 22, the Gunners travel to champions Manchester City.
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Pep Guardiola’s team made it three wins in three games with Saturday’s 3-1 victory at West Ham.
And although it’s surely too early to talk about pivotal periods for any club, the mood around the Emirates – buyed by Sterling’s arrival – could swing violently, depending how well or badly, Arsenal’s testing trio of games go.
It means Arteta will quickly have to turn his resentment at Rice’s red card into a rousing rev-up for his squad.
The Spaniard claimed Brighton got away with kicking the ball away – before his main midfielder picked up a costly second caution for a similar offence.
Arteta said: “If it [bookings] happens throughout the game in a consistent way it is fine but it didn’t. It is the inconsistency.”
And asked if he’d had an explanation afterwards, he replied: “None, like always.”
