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There were two performances at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday night in the Premier League. One was Bukayo Saka scoring in the ninth minute to give Arsenal a 1-0 win over Brighton. The other was Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler, running a one-man theatre production across the touchline, the tunnel, and a full post-match press conference. Only one of those performances changes the title race. Arsenal are now seven points clear of Manchester City, and Hurzeler's words count for nothing in that equation.

Brighton's manager arrived at the cameras with his lines prepared. "The Premier League has to find a rule because that was not football what Arsenal did today," he told journalists. He demanded yellow cards for time-wasting, called for "clearer rules," and suggested David Raya should have been sent off. "Have you seen a goalkeeper go down three times in one game? I think that says enough," he said.

Let me tell you what else says enough. Brighton had more possession than Arsenal. They had more shots, had a better expected goals figure. Mats Wieffer had a free header in the box and sent it straight at Raya. Georginio Rutter drew a fine save but could not convert when the game was there to be won. Brighton, supposedly robbed of all rhythm by Arsenal's terrible, horrible time-wasting, still created the better chances across 90 minutes.

So the complaint is what exactly? That Arsenal won a game Brighton had enough opportunities to draw or win themselves?

Hurzeler also said this: "If they win the Premier League, no one will ask how they won it." He added that Arsenal were "making their own rules." That second line is worth addressing directly. Arsenal play within the laws of the game in the presence of a referee, two assistant referees and a fourth official, who adds time. The laws permit goalkeepers to receive treatment when injured. If Hurzeler believes those laws are wrong, his argument is with the Premier League and the IFAB, not Arsenal Football Club. It is not with a team professional enough to use every legal advantage available in a title race with nine games left.

Here is the question nobody put to him after the game: if Brighton were 1-0 up at the Amex, protecting a lead in the 75th minute, would he have told Verbruggen to sprint back between the sticks? Would he demand his players rush the throw-ins? The answer is obvious. Hurzeler lost a football match he had enough chances to win. Everything else is dressing.

When Hurzeler's post-match complaints were relayed to Mikel Arteta, he gave them the weight they deserved. "What a surprise," he said, and declined to add further detail.
When pressed on whether he cares what opposition managers think, Arteta said: "It depends on the comment, the person and the purpose." That second line is the one to sit with. It wasn’t defensive or dismissive. It was just the precise response. He is telling you that Hurzeler's comments fail on at least two of those three criteria without bothering to spell out which ones.

That is a manager who is completely unbothered, because he understands exactly what the noise is for. On his players, Arteta was characteristically direct: "I love my players. That's the highlight. I love my players, we love our players and I love the way we compete." And then, with the faintest smile: "I think they love our players. Every time they talk about our players, I think they are the most loved ones in the country."

While Hurzeler was handling the post-match, Alan Pardew had already put something else on the record during live talkSPORT commentary. Arsenal's title, in his view, carries a qualifier. "There'll be an asterisk next to their name," Pardew said, "because you've only got to look at them really in these type of performances and say, it's just a functional display. They're good, they're strong, they're powerful. But there is nothing beautiful about them. That's the truth."

Alan Pardew managed in the top flight for over a decade. His teams were physical, direct, and built on making life difficult for technically superior opponents. He won Manager of the Month awards for grinding results out of organised defensive structures. No asterisk was ever attached to any of those results. But more fundamentally: what Premier League title would Pardew accept without a qualifier?

The 2011-12 City title was won on goal difference on the final day with a goal in added time, having blown an eight-point lead. No asterisk. Arsenal's 31 set-play goals this season broke no rules and deceived no referee. The asterisk is a comfort blanket for people who did not expect us to win. We have been watching them reach for it for thirty years.

While all this noise was building, Manchester City were twice taking the lead against Nottingham Forest at the Etihad and twice failing to hold it. They drew 2-2 at home against a side fighting relegation. Even if City win their game in hand and beat Arsenal at the Etihad on April 19, they would still be a point adrift unless we drop further points between now and then. That is the mathematics tonight. That is what a seven-point lead looks like in a title race.

Arsenal face Mansfield in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday, with a quadruple still in sight. In the Premier League, we host Everton on March 14 while City visit West Ham. Brighton travel to Sunderland, where Hurzeler will find a new complaint. Pardew will sharpen his asterisk, and someone will call us Set Piece FC again after the next corner. The noise does not stop, it simply changes shape. The job is to keep winning, and to block out absolutely everything else. Fourteen clean sheets and seven points clear. We will keep going.