Arsenal rocked after Maupay injures Leno, scores last-gasp winner

It had to be him.

Neal Maupay added insult to injury on Saturday by scoring a 95th-minute winner against Arsenal after his challenge on Bernd Leno earlier in the match resulted in the goalkeeper being stretchered off.

Maupay was at the center of a post-match fracas when the final whistle sounded on Brighton & Hove Albion's 2-1 win.

"At halftime, I went to the manager Mikel Arteta to apologize. I never meant to injure the keeper. I jumped for the ball. I apologize to the team and to him as well. I have been through a bad injury, it is hard," Maupay told BT Sport.

"Arsenal players maybe need to learn humility sometimes. They were talking a lot. They got what they deserved," he added.

Arsenal were the stronger side for most of the match but at times struggled to deal with the physicality of Graham Potter's Seagulls. Maupay somehow escaped a yellow card when his aerial duel with Leno - after the German had already caught the ball - culminated in the Arsenal player being given oxygen before he was carried off the pitch with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

The game's one piece of individual quality came from Nicolas Pepe, who has endured a tricky first season in English football. The winger received the ball on the corner of the 18-yard box, shifted the ball onto his left foot, and then curled it around Mathew Ryan and into the top corner.

Brighton replied seven minutes later when a short corner routine caught Arsenal out and ended up with Lewis Dunk bundling the ball over the line.

The fixture seemed to be petering out as Brighton players were taking their time with dead balls, but substitutes Alexis Mac Allister and Aaron Connolly combined with seconds remaining to set up Maupay's winner. Mac Allister, the combative Argentine midfielder who was recalled from a loan stint with Boca Juniors in January, passed to Connolly who instantly flicked the ball with the outside of his right foot. Maupay was freed and, with Shkodran Mustafi on his tail, deftly lifted the ball over replacement 'keeper Emiliano Martinez.

The three points could prove vital to Brighton's bid to preserve their Premier League status.

"It is just a win, we have eight games to go - some very big games," Maupay said. "Anything can happen and we need to stay focused. It is a good start; we are really happy, but we need to get straight back in tomorrow to focus on the next game."