Post Match report for the Arsenal - EFL Cup R4 game - Wednesday, 29th October 2025
ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP 25/26: Arsenal V Brighton - 29/10/25 R4 (last 16)
* * * * * IT ALL FELL FLAT YET AGAIN * * * * *
RESULT: 2-0 . (h-t 0-0)
VENUE: the Emirates, London N5 - third tie of 4 rounds to date . Wed 7:45pm.
BEFORE KICKOFF: Brighton fans travelling support made an evening trip into northern reaches of the capital to watch knockout football against the current Premier League runaway leaders.
Seagulls squads down recent seasons had always come a cropper at or before this round and fans arrived more in hope than expectation to progress.
WEATHER: cool . GATE: 59,292 . KIT: blue & white . ATMOSPHERE: not much fun
FABIAN HURZELER was a worried man following the Cup draw.
He wanted to reach the q-f stage and record BHA history but first needed to emulate exceptional exploits of Roberto de Zerbi here from early Nov 2022.
FH had very little choice when considering permutations for defence, midfield & attack as he submitted the team-sheet.
SQUAD: 1 Verbruggen 38 McGill (gk)
INJURED: 8 Gruda 13 Hinshelwood 20 Milner 22 Mitoma 34 Veltman . REHAB: 4 Webster 7 March
OOL: 3 Julio 16 Cashin 28 Ferguson 32 Sarmiento 33 ORiley 39 Rushworth (gk) 40 Buonanotte
STARTING SHAPE: 5-4-1
TEAM . . . . . . . . 23 Steele.
. . . . 42 Coppola 6 van Hecke 21 Boscagli
. 24 Kadioglu 17 Baleba 25 Gomez 29 de Cuyper
. . . . 10 Rutter . . . 9 Tzimas . . . 19 Kostoulas
SUBS: 26 Ayari (46), 11 Minteh (67), 14 Watson (67), 27 Wieffer (67), 18 Welbeck (78)
BENCH: 5 Dunk 49 Knight 54 Simmonds 62 Ramming (gk)
GOALS:
1-0 - 57 . hosts open scoring via neat teamwork as Steele goes down beaten by the low strike.
2-0 - 76 . locals double the lead after Steele parries but cannot stop the rebound.
YELLOWS: Coppola 34, Boscagli 86
CHANGES: 46 - Ayari for Kostoulas
67 - Minteh, Watson & Wieffer for Rutter, Gomez & de Cuyper . 78 Welbeck for Coppola
FIRST HALF: possession was equal during this period but the away outfit had three times as many attempts on goal.
SECOND HALF: Seagulls changed one position to reshape immediately on restart.
Gunners go ahead just prior to the hour mark.
Visitors make a triple sub after conceding.
Locals go two up with three-quarters of the game gone.
Travellers go thru motions but flatter to deceive, plus fail to score to boot.
IN THE END: knocked out by a side that after the interval upped the ante and made it a 45 minute contest.
Unused U21s make up the bench and the squad appears lightweight.
NUMBERS: poss 50%-50%, on target 5-6, off target 11-12, corners 8-2,
fouls 9-14, yellows 0-2, subs 5-5, shape 433-541
FS
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