Arsenal’s fading Premier League titles hopes are all but over after second-half goals by Julio Enciso, Deniz Undav and Pervis Estupinan earned Brighton a stunning 3-0 win at the Emirates.

The result means Manchester City only need one more victory from their final three games to defend their crown and they could be confirmed as champions as early as Saturday night if Mikel Arteta’s side lose at Nottingham Forest.

Arteta admitted pre-match it was must-win for Arsenal but they tasted defeat after a promising first-half showing thanks to Enciso’s 51st-minute header and late efforts by Undav and Estupinan.

It keeps alive the faint top-four hopes of Roberto De Zerbi’s team, who claimed another scalp in their outstanding season to move up to sixth with games in hand on Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle.

Any hope Arsenal had of Manchester City dropping points at Goodison Park was dispelled even before Arteta had named his starting line-up with their title rivals 3-0 up after 51 minutes.

It failed to dampen the atmosphere at the Emirates but visiting Brighton were not in London to make up the numbers and had European football ambitions to get back on track following a shock home loss to Everton on Monday.

The opening exchanges were affected by stoppages but referee Andrew Madley seemed keen to keep his cards in his pockets with Gabriel Martinelli and Moises Caicedo lucky to avoid punishment for poor challenges.

Caicedo, who saw a move to Arsenal fall through in January, in a less-familiar right-back role caught Martinelli after seven minutes and it eventually forced the Brazilian off with only 19 minutes played.

Enciso had tested Aaron Ramsdale with a firm near-post effort by this point and Martin Odegaard had sent a low strike wide but the contest had failed to get going following a stop-start opening.

Arsenal slowly got into their groove and Jason Steele had to kick away a Gabriel Jesus shot from a narrow angle before substitute Leandro Trossard went close against his old club.

Trossard, a replacement for Martinelli, was booed by the away fans and nearly gained payback after half an hour when Odegaard and Granit Xhaka exchanged passes to find the Belgian, but his swerving effort clipped the top of the crossbar from 16 yards.

Brighton improved after that let-off and Enciso should have done better when Kaoru Mitoma skinned Ben White and teed up the Paraguayan, but he scooped over on the turn.

Teenage forward Evan Ferguson also fired wide soon after for the Seagulls before Bukayo Saka dragged a shot off target from a promising position inside the area in first-half stoppage-time to ensure it remained goalless at the break.

It only took six minutes of the second half for Arsenal’s profligacy to be punished.

Mitoma found the overlapping Estupinan, who had not been tracked by Saka, on the left but after his first delivery had been half-cleared, his scuffed follow-up cross found its way to Enciso, who headed home.

Enciso was only unmarked because Arsenal centre-back Jakub Kiwior was in a heap on the floor after he twisted his ankle after Estupinan’s first centre but Brighton nor Manchester City cared one bit.

Kiwior was fine to carry on but Arteta had seen enough and introduced Thomas Partey and Reiss Nelson on the hour mark.

Substitute Nelson immediately made an impression with a low shot flashed wide and yet emotions were starting to spill over at the Emirates.

Arteta received a booking and while Trossard fired straight at Steele minutes later, Brighton remained in control and the Arsenal boss made his final roll of the dice with 13 minutes left.

Jesus and Odegaard made way for Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe while De Zerbi introduced Facundo Buonanotte for Brighton.

And with four minutes left it was good night to Arsenal’s title challenge when Trossard’s intended flicked pass hit Pascal Gross and ricocheted into the path of Undav, who lobbed over Ramsdale.

De Zerbi sprinted down the touchline to celebrate and was at it again deep into stoppage-time when Estupinan capped a fine display with a first Brighton goal after he fired home on the rebound when Ramsdale spilled Undav’s effort.

Roberto De Zerbi admits he “made some mistakes” by not affording more first-team opportunities to Billy Gilmour and Deniz Undav before their starring roles in Brighton’s stunning 6-0 win over Wolves.

The peripheral pair were handed just their third Premier League starts for the Seagulls during Saturday’s club-record top-flight victory and seized their chances with standout performances.

Former Chelsea midfielder Gilmour was hailed as the best player on the pitch by his manager, while German forward Undav bagged a brace to claim his first league goals in English football.

De Zerbi’s decision to begin with key trio Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and Kaoru Mitoma on the bench raised some eyebrows but was quickly forgotten as his reshuffled starting XI delivered in devastating style.

“We are enduring a very tough period, we are playing so many games in a row and we are not used to playing so many games,” the Brighton boss said of his decision to rotate.

“I thought it was good and right to give Mac Allister, Mitoma and Caicedo one game to recover and for Billy Gilmour and Undav and the players who are playing less the possibility to show their quality.

“But the level of Mac Allister, Mitoma and Caicedo is high and to make competition is difficult for Gilmour.

“Gilmour, I think, was the best player on the pitch and I must admit possibly in the past I made some mistakes with him and with Undav because I didn’t give them many possibilities to play.

“But for me it’s difficult. To play without Mac Allister, Mitoma, Solly March, Moises Caicedo, it’s difficult.”

Brighton’s thumping success was the perfect response to a difficult week as Undav, Pascal Gross and Danny Welbeck claimed two goals apiece.

Albion suffered penalty shoot-out heartache at the hands of Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final last Sunday and then had their European push dented by a 3-1 midweek loss at relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest.

De Zerbi now has a positive selection headache going into Thursday’s rematch with Erik ten Hag’s United in the league but could be without Joel Veltman after he was substituted in visible distress.

The Italian coach conceded he should have withdrawn Dutch defender Veltman earlier, particularly as fellow right-back Tariq Lamptey is sidelined.

“I hope it will be a small problem,” De Zerbi said of Veltman, who has recently been troubled by a hamstring issue.

“It’s important for us, especially in this moment, because we are playing without Lamptey.

“With or without Joel changes a lot of things because only Pascal Gross can play as a right-back.”

Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui urged his players to quickly move on from the Amex Stadium humiliation.

The former Real Madrid manager also feels it is important to put the current situation into perspective given his club were bottom of the table when he took over following the World Cup.

Wplves host local rivals Aston Villa next weekend, with work still to do to eradicate relegation concerns.

“All together we have to be ready for the next fight because we are in the middle of the battle,” said the Spaniard.

“We lost one battle but not the war, so we have to continue to achieve our aim in the end of the season.

“We are aware that we have not done anything yet and we need to get more points.

“We have to recover our energy and our confidence because we have to remember four months ago we were in the bottom.

“It’s a good thing to remember where we were. Now at least we have the possibility to be out of the relegation and that is a very big aim for us.”