For someone who professes to not enjoy watching football in his spare time, Ben White is pretty good at playing it. On his 100th Premier League appearance for Arsenal, the England rebel put in another immaculate performance against his former club as Mikel Arteta’s side overcame the latest hurdle in their quest for the Premier League title despite a significant test of their credentials by Brighton.
This was the type of occasion that had seemed set up for Arsenal to falter after Manchester City’s emphatic victory against Crystal Palace earlier in the afternoon. But Arteta’s players are made of sterner stuff these days and the result was never really in doubt once Kai Havertz had touched home Jorginho’s cross on the hour mark.
Moments earlier, White had done nothing to enamour himself to the supporters who voted him their player of the year in 2021 when he theatrically went to ground after the slightest touch from Pervis Estupiñán. But while he was booed for the rest of the match whenever the ball came near him, the 26-year-old had the last laugh as Arsenal extended their outstanding record of conceding only four goals in 11 league matches so far this year with another clean sheet.
Arteta insisted that White received “a lot of love” from the Arsenal squad after Gareth Southgate’s revelation that he had asked not to be selected for international duty last month. The full reasons for that have yet to be revealed amid rumours of a falling out with Southgate’s assistant, Steve Holland, that were denied by the manager. But on this evidence there is no doubt that England’s chances of success this summer would only be improved by his presence in the squad.
It’s a measure of White’s durability that he has only missed seven of Arsenal’s Premier League fixtures since signing from Brighton for £50m in the summer of 2021. Used primarily in midfield by Marcelo Bielsa on loan at Leeds in the Championship during the previous campaign, he was usually deployed at centre-back by Graham Potter as Brighton finished 16th in the only season he actually featured for the club that gave him an opportunity when Southampton released him as a teenager.
Confirmation that he had been voted as Brighton’s player of the year came on the same day that White made his first England start against Romania, before he went on to be an unused member of Southgate’s squad at the last Euros. It’s not known whether Declan Rice has followed through with his promise to discuss a potential return to the international set-up but the England manager would surely love to be able to select a player that Arteta has described as “training like he’s playing the Champions League final”.
His partnership with Bukayo Saka since shifting to right-back at the start of last season has been a major factor in Arsenal’s progress and White was instrumental in setting up the England forward for a golden opportunity that he curled just wide of the target in the first half. The same cannot be said for the left flank, where Oleksandr Zinchenko was preferred to Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu, having made his first start for two months against Luton in midweek after recovering from a calf injury. The former Manchester City player is not always the most defensively secure and it seemed that Brighton were specifically targeting his side during the first half – perhaps a good idea when White is the alternative. Simon Adingra twice left Zinchenko in his dust and fired just wide of the target inside the opening 20 minutes, prompting Arteta to have a quiet word in his ear as if to remind him of his defensive responsibilities.
Arsenal briefly seemed there for the taking. But this maturing team’s newfound resilience helped them impressively weather the Brighton storm. Suddenly Arsenal found themselves in front when Saka slotted home from the spot after Tariq Lamptey could not resist the temptation to dive in on Gabriel Jesus on the edge of the box, even if replays showed that the Ghana defender did make the slightest contact with the ball.
Some silky skills from White inside his own area during first-half stoppage time were the platform for a brilliant break down the field that almost ended in a second goal. He was less influential going forward in the second half as Arsenal dug in for the clean sheet and it was down Zinchenko’s flank that they fashioned the second goal.
Arteta may decide to upgrade his left-back in the summer depending on how they finish the season, and the arrival of Tomiyasu with 18 minutes to play was an indication that they were shutting up shop. Brighton seemed unable to replicate the intensity of their first-half performance, and watching another former player add the third when Leandro Trossard raced through on goal four minutes from time sparked an exodus from the home fans.
Brighton’s manager, Roberto De Zerbi, will still have been encouraged with the way his side went toe-to-toe with one of Europe’s best sides. For Arsenal, whose fans serenaded White at the full-time whistle with the same song that used to be reserved for a certain Ian Wright, the tests will only get harder, starting with Bayern Munich on Tuesday.
