Mikel Arteta bemoaned a “really poor” first half as a damaging defeat to Brighton saw their Premier League top-four hopes suffer another setback.
The Gunners boss said the performances in this 2-1 loss and Monday’s 3-0 reverse at Crystal Palace were taking Arsenal “nowhere”.
Enock was the star of the show for the visitors, creating Leandro Trossard’s opener before his own fine strike doubled the lead. Martin Odegaard’s late consolation meant Brighton left with a deserved win.
Arsenal were already reeling from defeat at Palace on Monday night and, with Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey missing through injury, their small squad was exposed once more.
Gabriel Martinelli had a goal ruled out for offside but other than that Arsenal rarely threatened and they lost more ground in their hopes of returning to Champions League action.
“The first half was really poor again,” said Arteta.
“The reaction we wanted to show and talked about we really didn’t make it happen on the pitch, we were sloppy on the ball, second best again in situations and didn’t show momentum in the game or play with the right speed.
“What happens now is we criticise ourselves a lot, we were really poor again in the first half. We know this route is taking us nowhere.”
Arteta also felt Arsenal were going to be awarded an equaliser when Martinelli headed home on the stroke of half-time but a lengthy VAR check ruled out his point-blank header.
“That was the feeling we had,” he added. “It was taking too long and if there was any doubt it would be a goal but that wasn’t the case – it was the best moment to change the momentum.
“We know with the team we have available, the difficult challenge we have ahead that is for sure. The injuries make the situation more complicated but we are not looking for excuses.”
For Brighton, this was just the third league win of 2022 after they had ended a six-game losing run with a goalless home draw against rock bottom Norwich last weekend.
Coach Graham Potter felt Arsenal could have been unsettled by the enforced changes as his side took full advantage.
“Obviously, they have got a couple of injuries from Monday night, I know Granit Xhaha has played left-back before so you have just got to try and be open for anything the opponent does.
“Palace was a tough game and a couple of injuries can destabilise you, we’ve had it ourselves.”
Asked about their turnaround in form, Potter added: “Really pleased is an understatement because I thought it was a really good performance and an even better result.
“It is not easy to do here with the quality they have, a team pushing for the Champions League spaces – so you know they have the quality.
“It makes a difference when you score, it gives you a chance. I’m pleased for the boys…they’ve had to suffer a bit.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 2
Rashford 28', Martial 72'
Watford 1
Doucoure 90'
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
