Arsenal spent more than 30 minutes restarting play in Brighton win

Arsenal consolidated their position at the top of the Premier League with a gritty 1-0 victory over Brighton at the Amex Stadium, Bukayo Saka’s strike securing the points. The match was overshadowed by a striking detail: Opta's data shows the Gunners took a cumulative 30 minutes and 51 seconds to restart play.

That total, the highest they have recorded in a Premier League match this season, represented roughly a third of the traditional 90 minutes and was spread across corners, goal-kicks, throw-ins and free-kicks. Arsenal averaged 31.4 seconds to get the ball back into play from those situations, and there have been 195 instances this season of a team taking longer than that to restart play in a Premier League match.

Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler was outspoken after the final whistle, saying: "I will never be that kind of manager who tries to win in that way," and arguing that "the limit has to be set by the Premier League" and referees. He added that, aside from possible Arsenal fans, few people would say they enjoyed the game.

arsenal, brighton, bukayo saka, amex stadium, restart play, opta, premier league, 30 minutes, 31.4 seconds, fabian hurzeler