Graham Potter hailed one of his side’s best performances of the season following a superb victory at the Emirates Stadium.
Goals in each half from Leandro Trossard and Enock Mwepu secured a first win in eight for the Seagulls as they moved on to 37 points in the Premier League table.
Fluid in attack and solid in defence, it was the perfect away performance as a second win at Arsenal in three seasons was also picked up in the process.
“It’s a massive result for us and because it’s the most recent one, I’ll say it’s up there with the very best,” said the head coach. “It’s a fantastic feeling, three points in the Premier League, and the game showed how difficult they are to get – especially away from home and especially against the teams challenging for the top places.
“It’s fantastic for the boys. I’m really pleased for them; the performance was really good and the result was even better.”
Albion set their stall out from the start and won the midfield battle, which laid the foundation for the performance that followed. Potter was, indeed, delighted with his central players and the overall attacking impetus of the side.
“We had to be brave, we had to use the qualities that we’ve got in the team,” he added. “Moises, Yves and Enock were important for us in terms of trying to win balls in midfield and then using Danny and Leo in terms of how to put pressure on their back line.
“In any game the first goal is vital, although I felt we needed a second to be honest. It’s difficult to hang on and see it out at 1-0, so it was important we kept trying to push.
“Obviously you expect a response from the home side and we had to weather the storm a little bit and suffer, but the guys are an honest bunch and understand, so the second goal was really important and gave us something to defend.
“We’re humble enough and honest enough to know that the Premier League is the toughest competition you can have. Every point is hard fought, so if you’re going to win, especially away from home, against the top clubs, you’ve got to fight for every second.”
The victory was Albion’s first since a 2-0 win at Watford in mid-February, but Potter feels the side are making good progress as they close in on the 40-point mark.
“You can’t worry about what people say from the outside. You’ve just got to carry on with your work.
“We’re happy with the progress we’re making although obviously we want to do better. Today makes it feel a little bit better than it was at the start of the game and we have to keep on improving – that’s how it is.
“We want to finishing at strongly as we can. That’s 37 points; we’ve got more games to go and it gives us a little platform to push the team on. We’ve got some young players getting better and better in the Premier League. Three points is a good day but there’s more to come.”