Ozil angrily yells at assistant manager after Arsenal defeat by Brighton

Ozil launches angry rant after Arsenal’s defeat to Brighton (Image: Amazon Prime)

A furious Mesut Ozil launched a verbal tirade at assistant manager Per Mertesacker after Arsenal's misery continued with another woeful defeat on Thursday night.

Neal Maupay headed home a late winner as Brighton inflicted defeat on the Gunners' interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg in his first home game in charge.

The 2-1 loss took the Gunners' winless streak to nine matches, their worst run in over 42 years, with Ljungberg unable to oversee an immediate upturn in fortunes.

And, following the game, Ozil appeared to be fuming with the result - and his coaches - as he made his way back to the dressing room.

The German playmaker could be seen pointing and yelling towards the dugout and shouting: "'Sacker, 'Sacker, 'Sacker."

Despite Matteo Guendouzi's best attempts to calm the former Real Madrid star down, the Gunners midfielder continued his angry tirade as he headed towards the tunnel.

Ozil was venting his frustrations at Mertesacker, the former Gunners captain who is now the interim assistant boss under Ljungberg, trying to explain something that had left him unhappy during the fixture.

The pair are close pals and memorably won the the 2014 World Cup together with Germany, while they also played together back home with Werder Bremen at the start of their careers.

And Ozil may have well been taking his anger out on Mertesacker, who called time on his playing career in 2018, following Arsenal's Premier League defeat in north London.

Mertesacker waited on the touchline for Ozil, and the pair quickly shook hands before Ozil continued on down the tunnel.

Adam Webster's second goal of the season gave Graham Potter's side a deserved half-time lead with Maupay then turning home in the 80th minute after Alexandre Lacazette had levelled.

The Arsenal hierarchy would have hoped for a reaction to Ljungberg's appointment but, other than a spell after the interval, they were second-best against a Seagulls side which had lost three in a row heading to the Emirates Stadium.

Interim Arsenal boss Ljungberg, meanwhile, admitted he was far from happy with his side’s first-half display.

“At half time we said, ‘This is not Arsenal, we have to give it a crack.’” Ljungberg said. “That's what I want to see from them.

“It was tough. We didn't show up in the first half, didn't work hard and want to play. You can't start like that.

“I need to work on that and get confidence back into the boys. It's a concern for any coach, a lack of confidence. We're in a difficult situation, we've lost a lot of games and the confidence has gone down.

“Of course it's disappointing but we've got to keep on going. There was a little bit of a reaction in the second half, but you cannot start games like that.

“We started the game flat with no energy. It's my job to get them to be aggressive and play with energy.”