Timid Arsenal were BULLIED by Brighton in 3-0 defeat: This performance from Mikel Arteta's men beggared belief and proves it is far too early to write off title challengers yet, writes ISAAN KHAN

Timid and shellshocked. Bullied. Rarely have such words been attributed to Arsenal in recent times.

Even those with a liking to Mikel Arteta’s team would struggle to utter more positive terms. By full-time, the Seagulls had pecked holes through each Arsenal player, and Arteta’s tactical sheets, on the club’s 125th anniversary. What an emphatic way to mark it.

Even the home fans had chants of ‘are you Tottenham in disguise?’ and ‘champions of England, you’re having a laugh’ in full flow, not afraid of revving up a wounded Arsenal team completely off the boil.

The score ended 3-0. Though, on another afternoon, four or five nil would have been more fitting. Even the typically composed Declan Rice decided to boot Malick Yalcouye in frustration seconds before the full-time whistle, somehow escaping a red card.

This was a Gunners display synonymous of their side from four or five years ago, when the Spaniard had started paving the building blocks towards a Premier League title competing side.

What transpired here on the south coast defied belief. All teams can have an off day. No side is truly unbeatable in this league, even if the hype around Arsenal had reached silly levels because of the sheer frailties of the other Big Six members.

Yet, the manner in which Fabian Hurzeler’s relentless Brighton had run straight through the visitors sent a warning to the league. This season’s champions is not a forgone conclusion. Far from it.