Three Things We Learned After Arsenal Beat Brighton 

A gritty performance on the south coast garners a priceless three points as City’s stumble stretches Arsenal's lead at the top to seven points

1 - The King of Brazil reigns supreme:

 – after Raya’s early error with an under-hit clearance, Gabriel set the tone for his performance with a superb reading of the game to clear off the line, He followed that with a tremendous block on Mitoma.

Even with his usual centre back partner, William Saliba, missing through injury he was absolute rock at the heart of our defence.

He is playing with a level of determination to achieve everything that the club are so desperate to and has clearly become one of the leaders of this side.

2 - Piero Hincapie deserves his flowers:

 – our loan signing from Bayer Leverkusen has gradually grown into the first team, performing consistently well at left back where he originally came in for the injured Riccardo Calafiori however he is now performing so well he is keeping the Italian International out of the side on merit.

He also switched to centre back when Cristian Mosquera was substituted in the second half as he started to walk a tightrope when he was on a yellow card.

He gave a very accomplished display as we recorded a vital win and a much-needed clean sheet – our first for six matches.

3 - Forest’s fightback offers real belief:

 – Manchester City’s home fixture looked on paper like a straightforward home win and a chance to chip away at our goal difference advantage.

However, twice the relegation battlers forced equalisers whilst Murillo’s last gasp clearance instantly saw him added to every Gooner’s Christmas card list.

The reality is there will be more bumps in the road for both City and ourselves. However a seven-point lead in early March, albeit City have their game in hand, with a goal difference of five goals in our favour and packed fixture list with both team still in all competitions, will be a test of both squads.

The Premier League takes a break until March 14, at which point we will play first and can put real pressure on City who play later evening away to relegation threatened West Ham.

For now, concentration turns to firstly the FA Cup Fifth Round away to Mansfield before the Round of 16 First Leg away to Leverkeusen.