Albion beaten by classy Nicolas Pepe double at Arsenal

The wideman struck twice in the opening quarter-hour of the second half to give the Gunners the points.

It was a rather flat end to a testing season for the Seagulls, although they had a couple of chances to get back on terms or back into the contest in the second period.

They could have no complaints about a defeat which ended any hope of moving up the table on the final day.

But defeat for Burnley at Sheffield United left them 16th, ultimately 13 points clear of a bottom three towards which they were casting concerned glances for much of the campaign.

Albion had skipper Lewis Dunk back from a ban but had lost Danny Welbeck to injury.

Leandro Trossard returned to the XI with Steven Alzate dropping to a bench which also included young goalkeeper Tom McGill, who has been on loan at Crawley this season.

After the euphoria of victory over Manchester City at the Amex, Albion were on the other side of the fans’ return to Premier League stadia.

This time they were alone as Arsenal greeted some of a rather disenchanted fanbase to the Emirates.

Albion had the poise and confidence in possession to keep the ball early and take any initial sting out of the occasion.

Thomas Partey curled wide with the first moment which really got the 10,000 in good voice.

Then Granit Xhaka tried his luck from outside the box and Robert Sanchez held his effort comfortably.

Albion were prepared to pass the ball from very deep and allow the Gunners on to them.

Dunk had slotted in to the left of Adam Webster in what looked more like a back four than usual although, with Graham Potter, things tend to be pretty fluid.

They had a lot of men forward when Arsenal suddenly hit them on a counter.

Partey angled a perfect pass to get Emile Smith-Rowe in behind down the Seagulls’ right and his cutback found Martin Odegaard for a shot which deflected high over the bar via Dunk.

Odegaard was lively but Webster and Dan Burn made important challenges when it looked he had threaded Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Pepe through on goal.

Webster then got in enough of an aerial challenge to force Aubameyang into a tame header wide after more inventive work by Odegaard, who stood the ball up the far post.

Arsenal were starting to exert pressure, their fans starting to find voice, and Sanchez had to tip a Partey curler over the bar.

Albion could not really get out. After they won the ball back, Burn looked forward, saw no yellow shirts so was eventually forced down a cul-de-sac in his own half, followed by a foul when he lost possession.

Xhaka’s resulting free-kick from at least 25 yards took a heavy touch off the wall to allow Sanchez an easy gather.

Yves Bissouma produced a terrific sliding tackle on Pepe when his old mate from Lille bore down into the penalty area with Dunk back-pedalling.

There were cheers when the resulting corner was touched on and then forced, it seemed, just over the line by Rob Holding.

But Holding was offside and had controlled with his left hand before shooting.

There was not a lot of threat from Albion. Alireza Jahanbakhsh did not make the most of a counter attack chance.

There was more menace later when they cleverly worked space for Jakub Moder on the left edge of the area.

Alexis Mac Allister’s dummy opened up some room but Moder took a touch to move the ball from right foot to left and his shot was blocked.

Dunk swirled an optimistic effort over the bar from outside the box when the ball came back out to him.

But Arsenal so nearly broke through right on half-time.

Xhaka’s searching cross was met by Gabriel above Webster and his header looped over Sanchez before hitting the bar.

Adam Lallana and Aaron Connolly were on for the second half in place of Jahanbakhsh and Trossard.

Arsenal, though, took little time going ahead.

Xhaka ignored pleas from the crowd to shoot and instead spread play to the right.

Calum Chambers played the ball in low and Pepe took a touch before thrashing a low shot through Sanchez’s legs.

Connolly had the chance to reply quickly as he was played in behind the defence to the left of goal.

He checked inside Chambers very nicely but his attempt to then curl a shot inside the far post instead sent the ball harmlessly across goal.

Bissouma was not far wide with a low shot from 25 yards which had Bernd Leno diving.

But Pepe added his second when he cut in from the right and passed the ball across Sanchez and inside his far post.

Leno was troubled when he had to dive to his right to parry a dipping effort by Moder.

ALBION PLAYER RATINGS FROM DEFEAT BY ARSENAL

Bissouma continued to excel in midfield and, at the end of a club season he will never forget, Moder looked most likely to drag Albion into the contest.

But they were relieved to see Partey’s blast come back off the bar after a clever turn.

A goal there would have been too harsh as an emotionally and physically draining week came to an end.

Arsenal: Leno; Chambers, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Thomas, Xhaka; Pepe, Odegaard (Martinelli 86), Smith-Rowe (Saka 74); Aubameyang (Lacazette 79). Subs Not Used:Ceballos,Runarsson,Cedric,Pablo Mari,Elneny, Nketiah.

Goals: Pepe 49, 60.

Albion: Sanchez; White, Webster, Dunk, Burn; Gross, Bissouma, Moder; Jahanbakhsh (Lallana 46), Mac Allister (Alzate 66), Trossard (Connolly 46). Subs Not Used: Karbownik,Tau,Steele,Caicedo,Zeqiri,McGill.

Ref: Jonathan Moss (County Durham).