Arsenal ended 2022 with a bang and moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-2 win at Brighton
Following Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Everton earlier in the day, Arsenal seized their opportunity, taking the lead inside two minutes from Bukayo Saka's confident finish
 Martin Odegaard then struck before half-time before Eddie Nketiah made it two goals in two games since replacing the injured Gabriel Jesus
Kaoru Mitoma reduced the deficit for Brighton but Gabriel Martinelli rubberstamped the victory after an outrageous assist from Odegaard
Evan Ferguson, 18, became Brighton's youngest-ever Premier League scorer and Arsenal survived a late wobble when Mitoma had the ball in the net for 4-3 with stoppage-time to come but the goal was ruled out by VAR for offside
Arsenal saw it out and have now won nine of their last 10 Premier League games and have put themselves in a fantastic position to win their first league title since 2003/04
Arsenal face Newcastle on Tuesday at the Emirates Stadium, live on Sky Sports, which means they could be 10 points clear by the time City visit Chelsea next Thursday at Stamford Bridge
 The Gunners are seven points clear after 16 games, a lead no previous Premier League leader has surrendered
In the final Premier League game of 2022, Arsenal knew by kick-off that a win would take them seven points clear and make those New Year's celebrations extra special for the travelling contingent
 They started the game in party mood as Saka had them in front inside two minutes, scoring his fifth goal in his last six appearances for club and country
Gabriel Martinelli's shot was blocked but the ball fell beautifully for Saka, who made no mistake with his finish
 It was one of five shots on the Brighton goal in the opening five minutes, highlighting the confidence and momentum flowing through Arteta's side
Martinelli almost slid home following a gorgeously disguised pass from Odegaard on 17 minutes and, although Brighton improved as the half wore on, Arsenal carried the greater quality
 It was soon 2-0 to the away side
A corner was only half cleared as far as Odegaard, who somewhat scuffed his shot into the ground but the trajectory of the effort helped it looped into the far corner taking his tally to seven goals in his last 13 Premier League appearances
Arsenal started the second half much like the first and added a third within two minutes of the restart
 Martinelli's shot was too hot to handle and Nketiah responded quickest to poke the ball home in front of a jubilant away end, who then started to bring out the 'Ole's' with Arsenal in control
However, Brighton kept on coming and found their stride
 Pascal Gross slid a clever ball to the brilliant Mitoma and he found the bottom corner to give Arsenal something to think about
 The nerve levels were turned down a notch though when Martnelli pounced for 4-1 on 71 minutes
The goal was all about Odegaard though who on the turn, hit a first-time pass for Martinelli to race through and finish
 It was one of the passes of the season
Ferguson had his moment to remember for Brighton, scoring his first Premier League goal off the bench as he held off William Saliba in strong fashion and finished powerfully
 He only turned 18 in October
Brighton thought they had their grandstand finish on 89 minutes when Mitoma jinked into space and fired into the bottom corner but with the Amex rocking and the players set for the restart, VAR disallowed the goal for a marginal offside in the build-up
This was Arsenal's night
 And it might just be their season
Arsenal boss  speaking to : "That was a big win against a really good side
 We had big moments, we were ruthless, really clinical
 We had some great moments and then as well there were moments where we had to dig in and suffer because they put you in trouble and are a really good side
"If you expect to come here against Brighton and play them off the park, and don't concede anything, it's extremely difficult
 It was a big test for us to win again, three in a row
 It's a big win and now onto the next one
"We started really fast, after the first one, I think we have two or three big chances to put the game in a much comfortable position but it was never finished
 You had the feeling they were going to give everything they could and commit a lot of players forward and test the last line
 They did and we had to manage some difficult situations
""Arsenal are playing very well, it's not been a fluke
 They went to Old Trafford and got beat, and I didn't think they deserved to
 There's ways of losing matches and they bounced back
"The other night, they went 1-0 down to West Ham and they came back and brushed them aside
"They are right in it, no question
 This is not a fluke, they are where they are because they are a very good football team
"There's 26 games left, they've got to do it for another 22 probably
 They've given themselves a little gap where they can afford to lose a few games
 Man City are not going to win every game
"Arsenal are right in this, I couldn't talk highly enough about them
 But this is the Premier League, it changes so quickly
"Those three fixtures: Newcastle, Tottenham, Man United
 If they beat Newcastle, you expect them to get a result at Tottenham, if they get a result at Tottenham I'd expect them to beat United
"If they don't beat Newcastle, you don't expect them to beat Tottenham, they don't beat Tottenham then you don't expect them to beat United
 It's a domino effect
 At the moment, they're doing everything right
" - Newcastle (H) - Live on , kick-off 7
45pm - Oxford United (A) - FA Cup third round, kick-off 8pm- Tottenham (A) - Live on , kick-off 4
30pm- Manchester United (H) - Live on , kick-off 4
30pm- Everton (A) - Kick-off 12
30pm- Brentford (H) - Kick-off 3pmBrighton head to Goodison Park on Tuesday night to play Everton (7
45pm kick-off) while Arsenal face Newcastle in a mouth-watering encounter, live on Sky Sports, also on Tuesday (7
45pm kick-off)
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