Arsenal have slumped to their fourth straight defeat after Brighton and Hove Albion defeated the Gunners 2-1 at the American Express Community Stadium on Sunday.

After their back to back defeat at the hands of Manchester City this past week the Brighton game was the perfect opportunity for the Gunners to put in some much-needed wind into their sails. But they shockingly went 2-0 down by the 26th minutes and the rest of the match was just Arsenal trying to come out with a single point rather than 3.

They did pull one goal back two minutes before the second half thanks to January transfer signing Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang. But Arsenal failed to break down Brighton again and Chris Hughton’s side bagged all three points.

On paper, it might seem that Arsenal lost the match by a narrow margin by in reality Brighton could have easily gotten 3 or 4 goals.

And after the match, the Gooners have once again turned against their manager.

But this time though Arsene Wenger has received the backing of Brighton manager Chris Hughton himself.

Speaking after the game, Hughton said: “Knowing him as I do, yes (I am confident he will turn it around),”

“I was very complimentary about him coming into this game and I will always remain very complimentary.

“Arsene is a top manager who has been through a difficult period and there is not anybody who is as experienced as him, certainly in this Premier League.”

Arsenal’s next encounter will be against AC Milan in the Europa League Round of 16 and the Gunners will certainly have to give it their everything.

Wenger’s side are currently 13 points behind that elusive top 4 spot and there’s absolutely no prizes for guessing that winning the Europa League is the only that Arsenal can now get back into the top tier of European football.

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Read: Pochettino takes a subtle dig at Arsene Wenger’s managerial career.