Joao Pedro scored a second-half penalty to dent Arsenal’s English Premier League title hopes as the Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw by Brighton on Saturday night.
Arsenal went ahead in the 16th minute through teenage midfielder with Nigerian blood Ethan Nwaneri, who was starting just his second match in the Premier League.
The 17-year-old was involved in a clever move with Mikel Merino and Declan Rice before firing a shot that squirmed past goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen and found the far corner.
With the strike, Nwaneri became the first-ever Arsenal player to score more than one Premier League goal before his 18th birthday.
He also became just the sixth player to score more than one Premier League goal before turning 18 years old after Wayne Rooney (7), Michael Owen (5), Danny Cadamarteri (3), James Milner (3) and Federico Macheda (2).
Arsenal dominated as they looked to build a bigger lead, and they were to pay for not taking their chances when Pedro struck from the spot just after the hour.
The penalty was awarded for an unusual incident when Pedro flicked the ball up and William Saliba, in attempting to nod it away, made contact with the head of the Brazilian forward who went to ground.
The foul was checked and confirmed by the video assistant referee (VAR), who deemed there was sufficient contact for a penalty and Pedro then sent David Raya the wrong way to level the scores.
It could have been worse for Arsenal after that, with Brighton substitute Yankuba Minteh curling wide from inside the area when well placed.
The result leaves Arsenal five points behind leaders Liverpool with Mikel Arteta’s side having played two games more.
Liverpool could go eight points clear on Sunday when they host struggling rivals Manchester United.
