It is that time for hopeful proclamations about this being your year and if anyone of an Arsenal persuasion wanted to mark the start of 2023 with one relating to their pursuit of a first Premier League title for almost two decades they could make a decent case.
While their rivals continue to show they are more susceptible to dropping points, Arsenal simply keep on winning.
Week-by-week, game-by-game, their title credentials are being proved.
For now, most connected with Arsenal are refusing to get carried away.
But match days like this final Saturday of 2022 only add to the sense that this might just be their time again.
The cautious types can point to Brighton missing four players from the spine of their side in Adam Webster, Moises Caicedo, World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister and Danny Welbeck.
They might highlight the problems depleted opponents managed to cause Arsenal too.
But there was much to admire about the ruthless way Arsenal forged into a three-goal lead by early in the second half to all but settle the outcome of this game before holding on when Brighton rallied to capitalise on the slips of their nearest challengers.
Given the opportunity presented to them to extend their lead, by Manchester City and Newcastle dropping points at home, it was an impressive immediate response before an admittedly more uncomfortable last half hour than manager Mikel Arteta would have liked.
This has not been the happiest of hunting grounds for Arsenal who had only won one of their five visits. Give Brighton any early encouragement and it could easily have been business as usual.
So Arsenal did not. They started firmly on the front foot, with a Martin Odegaard’s driving run into Brighton’s box only being halted just in time by Tariq Lamptey.
The mistake he made when he gained possession was not carrying the ball far enough away from Brighton’s goals and the pack of Arsenal players hunting feverishly to win it back.
Thomas Partey did so, Oleksandr Zinchenko fed Gabriel Martinelli and his shot deflected off Lewis Dunk and Levi Colwill, falling perfectly for Bukayo Saka to take a touch and coolly convert, just as he did against West Ham last time out.
For 10 minutes or so it was one way traffic and Brighton could barely get out of their half as Arsenal swarmed all over them. Zinchenko and Eddie Nketiah had further chances to score.
Eventually and having had to work overtime to get out, Brighton managed to get hold of possession for an extended period and get a proper look at what Arsenal’s half looked like.
From Lamptey’s cut back, Leandro Trossard scuffed a shot goalwards which Aaron Ramsdale helped wide before he was bailed out by his teammates after misjudging the resulting corner as it sailed over him.
Trossard later forced Ramsdale into another save but Arsenal’s threat was constant.
Again their pressure in midfield saw Zinchenko dispossess Adam Lallana and Partey release Saka who was denied by the sliding Dunk.
Partey then scooped over after Brighton struggled to deal with a corner.
Get to half time just one down and Brighton would have a good chance to plot a route back into the game with just a one-goal deficit to overturn.
But they could not hold out and were left with a real mountain to climb. From another right wing corner Billy Gilmour could only head it clear to the edge of the box and Odegaard fired it back in, bouncing an effort into the ground and over Brighton’s back-tracking defenders.
Less than two minutes into the second half, it was 3-0 and seemingly game over.
Saka, Odegaard and Partey were all involved in working the ball out to Martinelli on the left.
He ran at Lamptey for the umpteenth time and squeezed in a shot, which was saved by Sanchez but poked in by the razor-sharp Eddie Nketiah who was quickest to react to the ball being spilled.
Centre-backs Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba both had chances to make it 4-0 but Arsenal found themselves pegged back when Kaoru Mitoma swept Pascal Gross’s clever pass beyond Ramsdale.
Brighton’s tails were up thanks to that goal and Roberto De Zerbi’s attacking changes. One of them, Jeremy Sarmiento got to the byline and fired in a cross that was agonisingly too far ahead of any of his teammates.
Seconds later, the ball was in Brighton’s net again. Arsenal broke from that escape, swept upfield via Partey, Xhaka and an outstanding pass from Odegaard freeing Martinelli to run through and poke through Sanchez’ legs.
Still though, Brighton refused to go away, summed up by another substitute, teenage striker Evan Ferguson who pressured Saliba into a mistake from Dunk’s through ball and slipped in his first ever Premier League goal.
Mitoma had a second goal ruled out for the tightest of offside’s, Dunk headed over and Ferguson’s daisy cutter was gratefully pounced on by Ramsdale.
Finally, the three points their closest rivals failed to collect earlier in the day, were safe.
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