Brighton vs Arsenal: Unai Emery apologises for kicking water bottle at Seagulls fan

The Gunners dropped points in the race for the top four after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's opener was cancelled out by Jurgen Locadia

Unai Emery was forced to apologise after accidentally kicking a water bottle at a Brighton fan during Wednesday's Premier League clash.

Arsenal dropped points in the race for the top four after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's opener was cancelled out by Jurgen Locadia earning the hosts on the south coast a share of the spoils.

The result leaves the Gunners on the outside looking in in the chase for a Champions League spot and the frustration appeared to get the best of the Spaniard towards the end of the game when he appeared to accidentally kick a water bottle in the direction of a Brighton supporter, but the 47-year-old later apologised.

"I said to them apologies because I kick the bottle after a disappointing action for us in the last minutes," he said afterwards. "It wasn't hard, but it touched one supporter for them. I said to them I'm sorry."

Mesut Ozil started the game at The Amex but was withdrawn at the break, a decision that Emery later claimed was "only tactical".

“We changed for a four-four-two (formation) like in other matches where we cannot control them as we want, this is only a tactical decision.

"In the second half we wanted to change something tactically and impose our game plan, but we could not do that.

"In 90 minutes, we deserved more, but they play with a big commitment here and it is difficult to win here. We wanted to control the match. In the first half, we did this, in the second half, we cannot do that."

Despite not being able to make the most of their fast start, Emery believes Arsenal continue to move in the right direction.

"We are in our process. We want to be in the top four, but we know it is difficult," the Gunners head coach said. "We are continuing and improving, finding more situations tactically where we can improve, and this is our process."