Brighton vs Arsenal LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction as Gunners extend lead at the top

57 mins: Chance! An Arsenal free kick is whipped into the box and perfectly finds Gabriel who turns a volley towards goal and forces Robert Sanchez into a point blank save!

The ball comes out to William Saliba, who fancies his chances, and he smokes a second effort high and wide.

56 mins: Eddie Nketiah is played down the right wing when Arsenal clear their lines. He carries the ball forward and wins a free kick when swarmed by three Brighton defenders.

53 mins: Save! Brighton almost get one back as Adam Lallana makes a run into the penalty area from the right and is given the ball. He threads one in behind the defence where Pascal Gross pops up and turns the balltowards goal.

Aaron Ramsdale has the near post covered and palms the ball behind before the offside flag gets raised.

50 mins: Gabriel Martinelli doesn’t have a goal to his name yet tonight but he’s created two goals for Arsenal with his direct runs and composure around the box. It was his deflected cross that set up Saka in the first half.

It’s a long way back for Brighton now. Arsenal are making what should have been a tricky contest look very simple.

47 mins: Game over! Arsenal transition up the pitch after a Brighton counter-attack and feed the ball over to Gabriel Martinelli on the left wing.

Martinelli brings the ball into the penalty area and blasts a shot at goal. Robert Sanchez manages to keep it out but spills the ball and Eddie Nketiah is on hand to poke it home!

Brighton get the match restarted for the second half. There hasn’t been any changes in personnel at the half-time break from either team.

Will Arsenal close out the game or can Brighton spark a comeback?

Southampton will begin 2023 at the foot of the Premier League after a last-gasp Joao Palhinha goal condemned them to a 2-1 defeat at Fulham.

James Ward-Prowse thought he had secured a first point under new Saints boss Nathan Jones after scoring a free-kick to cancel out his own own-goal.

But Palhinha struck a minute from time with a far-post header to leave Southampton rock bottom.

Fulham, meanwhile, will end the year as top dogs in west London after climbing above Chelsea and Brentford, despite top-scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic missing a stoppage-time penalty.

Crystal Palace picked up three crucial points in their final game of 2022 with a 2-0 Premier League win at AFC Bournemouth.

Both goals for Palace, who had failed to register any shots on target in their Boxing Day loss to Fulham, came from first-half set pieces.

Jordan Ayew opened the scoring when he nodded in a corner from Michael Olise, who also set up Eberechi Eze for the Eagles’ second.

New Bournemouth owners Bill Foley and actor Michael B. Jordan were introduced on the pitch before kick-off, but the sprinkle of Hollywood stardust did little to lift Gary O’Neil’s side.

Over a season, a great goalscorer will prove more prolific than the scorer of great goals. Over 90 minutes, however, the inevitable was cancelled out by the memorable. Erling Haaland got his seemingly mandatory strike, but Demarai Gray delivered a magnificent one.

Manchester City encountered unexpected resistance and Frank Lampard grasped at a lifeline to end Everton’s losing run. This was only a draw but there is a case for anointing it his best result of the season, as well as perhaps his most needed.

Certainly it seemed the most improbable. Everton had not taken a point from their previous nine league games against City. A goal down, facing up to a fifth successive defeat in all competitions, their fears of relegation mounting, they did not muster a shot of any description until Gray sprang a surprise. What they lacked in quantity, however, they provided in quality.

Fabian Schar wasted a hat-trick of chances as Newcastle’s hopes of a seventh successive Premier League win were dashed by Leeds United.

The Magpies’ best opportunities on an ultimately barren afternoon fell to the Switzerland international and fellow defender Dan Burn, but neither was able to break the deadlock and the Yorkshiremen emerged with a hard-fought 0-0 draw at St James’ Park.

Eddie Howe’s men dominated, particularly after the break, but were unable to find a way past goalkeeper Illan Meslier, and it took a fine save from opposite number Nick Pope to prevent Rodrigo from snatching three points in front of a crowd of 52,211.