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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Darren Lewis

Brighton send Premier League warning as they sink Arsenal's title hopes in style

In his sleep tonight, Ben White's hips will turn this way and that before he wakes up at around 2am in a cold sweat.

Only then will he be reassured, mercifully that it really is over. The Kaoro Mitoma nightmare by then will be a distant memory. As the kids say these days, Brighton's Japanese creative genius 'cooked' him. He violated him in a sporting context.

Julio Enciso, substitute Deniz Undav and left-back Pervis Estupinian scored the goals. But Mitoma pulled the strings. He raided Arsenal so regularly down the left he should have been afforded his own strip of grass.

Not only is he a heist of Tom Cruise proportions when you consider Brighton paid just £2.6million for him from Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale, Mitoma is also indestructible. Gabriel Martinelli, remarkably, escaped punishment from awful referee Andy Madley for trying to take him out with a forearm smash in the opening minutes.

Mitoma is a snapshot of Seagulls' business that has impressed to such an extent that the Brighton recruitment team should be awarded the Nobel Prize for economics. Add manager Roberto de Zerbi who did a Jose Mourinho for the second and third goals, racing down the touchline, and you can see why their operation is the envy of every team outside the top six.

Europe is the least De Zerbi and his team deserve. They are crying out for a bigger stage. To step up a level after an outstanding campaign. If you are De Zerbi why would you go to bigger clubs with unrealistic targets they can't fund properly when you can continue polishing the Amex diamonds with the time and patience you need?

Summer will be a win-win for them. Yes, the big guns will come for Mitoma, Felipe Caicedo and Alexis MacAllister. But any exits will leave Brighton’s bank balance bulging while European football will attract even more impressive talents. The future is bright. The future is blue and white.

Have your say! Will Brighton finish in the European places? Let us know your prediction in the comments section.

Ben White had a rough Sunday afternoon against Kaoro Mitoma (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

Post-match, Brighton striker Danny Welbeck told Match of the Day: "It was very important we responded after the last game. We stuck to our morals, played our football and got a great victory at the end of the day. It's not something that happens by luck. We work hard during the week and today it's paid off.

"We got the goals on top of the performance and it's a great day for the club. It puts us in a great position and we want to push on. "It is a tough one [for Arsenal to take]. I have a great affiliation with the club, I loved my time here and everyone's always given me a good reception when I've come back.

"But it's football and you have to remain professional and we've done that today. The season's not over yet. We want to finish strongly, as best as we can. The manager never lets us think we've done enough. We've improved again this year and want to keep improving, keep pushing on."

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