Joe Montemurro was full of praise for Brighton & Hove Albion after they made Arsenal work hard for a 2-0 win on Sunday afternoon.

The Gunners moved back into third after Manchester United moved into the final Champions League spot for a few hours after a 4-1 win over the Gunners north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur earlier on in the day.

Montemurro said: "We were frustrated because we created some very good chances but we also allowed them into the game. I commend Brighton though, i spoke to Hope Powell after the game and congratulated her on the fantastic work she has done in the last two or three years.

"She’s building a real legacy there and a very solid squad. They are a big positive in the WSL with what they are doing and the way they go about things."

Jordan Nobbs scored a double for the Gunners and Montemurro made a tactical change in the first-half moving her to the left.

"Jordan’s natural inclination when playing wide is to come inside and because Anna Patten was inverting on the right, we just felt we needed a more classic winger on that side. We worked on something a little different with Anna and Jordan’s movement during the week but their full-back wasn’t coming inside. She was staying outside so we felt a winger would be better on the right.

"Today we wanted to play too quick, too early but if we had changed the tempo we would have been more secure and successful. These things happen in the ebbs and flows of seasons.

"We felt Jordan moving to the left and going from outside to the inside would suit us a little better and she got her rewards with the goals."

The only chance of note that Brighton created was through a mistake from Manuela Zinsberger that Albion striker Emily Simpkin fired wide.

Montemurro was asked if Arsenal were nervous in the game and he responded: "We weren't anxious so much probably, just a bit of frustration. The only chance they created was from our error and there were a couple of mistakes from our point of view. But these things happen in the ebb and flow of a season and it’s a positive for us because it’s a little warning going into Wednesday night."

Lia Wälti came on for Leah Williamson at centre-back with twenty minutes to go.

"It wasn’t our cleanest performance and in build-up we were a little bit loose so we decided to balance it out a little more and give ourselves a bit more depth," said Montemurro.

"Lia Wälti is very good at finding the pass, especially on the left hand side. We decided that would be the time to bring Katie McCabe into the game a little more and play her a little bit higher."

Arsenal are next in action against West Ham United in their game in hand on Wednesday. They beat the Hammers 9-1 in September.

"It’s going to be very difficult because they are a very direct team and distances can get long and games become transitional. So it’s up to us to make sure our attitude is right and to dictate when we want to speed the game up and when we want to slow it down.

"Today we probably wanted to play too quickly at times when we could have changed the tempo and been a bit more secure."