Brighton 0 Arsenal 3

Arsenal swept aide Brighton 3-0 with no difficulty.

The tone was set in the opening minute when Gabriel’s free header from a well-flighted free kick went just past the post.

Bukayo Saka and Kai Haivetz scorned more chances but Saka converted a penalty to give the Gunners the lead.

Two more goals were added by Havertz and Leandro Trossard which made it 3-0.

Brighton were beaten by a superior side but one wonders if the continuing doubt over Roberto De Zerbi’s future was also a factor.

Arsenal, with a peerless driving Declan Rice, did not look as brittle as last season and are genuine contenders.

It was also the 50th anniversary of an important event in Brighton – and for a a certain Swedish pop group – when ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest at the Dome.

I remember Uncle Manny using his contacts to get me a couple of tickets for me and my then girlfriend, who had more of a crush on Benny Andersson then me.

For that reason I was never a fan, finding them a tad too manufactured for my taste, but Waterloo became their first hit and the rest – as they say – is history.