Saka breaks 20-year Henry record, Rice sent off as Brighton hold Arsenal to draw

Arsenal star Bukayo Saka equalled a 20-year club record set by Gunners legend Thierry Henry but was unable to help his side avoid a disappointing 1-1 draw against Brighton.

The Gunners opened the scoring through Kai Havertz, but were pegged back by a Joao Pedro leveller after losing Declan Rice to an early second half red card.

Arsenal started the game on the front foot and were the better team for much of the first-half, getting the reward for their enterprise when Havertz opened the scoring after a brilliant Saka assist.

The assist from Saka meant that the England international became the first Arsenal player to provide an assist in each of the first three games of a Premier League season since Thierry Henry in 2004.

Arsenal finished the first half on the ascendancy but were brought back down to earth when Declan Rice received a second yellow card following a confrontation with Brighton’s Joel Veltman.

The 10-man Gunners were unable to maintain their goal advantage after going a man down and Brighton equalised through Joao Pedro less than 10 minutes after the red card for Rice.

Both sides came close to finding a winning goal late in the game as Havertz forced Barr Verbuggen into a quality save before Brighton’s Jasin Ayari managed to hit David Raya with an effort when the Arsenal goal was gaping. Saka also failed to convert a cut back as Verbuggen made another important save.

The draw ends Arsenal's perfect start to the season as the Gunners drop points for the first time in the 2024/25 Premier League campaign. The same applies for Brighton who had also won their opening two matches of the season.