BRIGHTON, England, March 4 (Reuters) - Arsenal ground out another three points in their Premier League title quest with Bukayo Saka marking his 300th appearance for the club with the only goal in a 1-0 victory at Brighton and Hove Albion that sent his side seven points clear on Wednesday.
When the referee blew his whistle at the end of seven minutes of stoppage time, Arsenal's travelling fans roared with delight and they soon had double reason to celebrate as news of Manchester City's draw with Nottingham Forest came through.
It was not a memorable display by Arsenal who managed only two shots on target but they defended magnificently to blunt Brighton's attack on what could prove to be a pivotal night if the London club win their first title since 2004.
"This feels like a massive win definitely for us," Saka told TNT Sport. "We heard the fans celebrating (the Man City result) so I knew it went well for us in the other games.
"But we focus on ourselves. It's a nice feeling and we focus on ourselves. We both needed to win and we did and they didn't so we are happy today."
Saka was again wearing the captain's armband in the absence of the injured Martin Odegaard and he led by example to provide the decisive moment, albeit with a slice of luck.
He was allowed to cut in from the right and his left-footed shot brushed off a Brighton defender to divert the ball just enough to deceive home keeper Bart Verbruggen with the ball going into the net off his leg.
Brighton, whipped up by their boisterous home support, pinned Arsenal back for long periods, especially in the early stages of the second half, but Mikel Arteta's side stood firm.
Visiting keeper David Raya kept his 14th Premier League clean sheet of the season, making some sharp saves after the break, one to deny a well-struck volley by Georginio Rutter.
He was indebted to defensive colossus Gabriel though in the second minute when his wayward pass was intercepted by Carlos Baleba whose lofted chip towards the empty goal was headed clear by the ever-alert Brazilian.
Gabriel was supreme throughout as he marshalled an Arsenal defence missing his central partner William Saliba.
Brighton regularly found themselves in Arsenal's penalty area but could find no way through as they suffered just their third home defeat of the season.
Their best chance of an equaliser fell to Mats Wieffer late on but he headed straight at Raya when unmarked.
Arsenal now have 67 points from 30 games with City on 60 points from 29 games while Brighton are in 12th spot.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Toby Davis)
