1 January 2025
Brentford 1 Arsenal 3
Brentford welcomed Arsenal to the Gtech Community Stadium hoping to get back to winning ways against Mikel Arteta’s side. The Bees had been in impressive form at home but had seemed to have lost their mojo of late. For The Gunners, they could not afford to drop points in their pursuit of Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.
It would be a match with two very contrasting styles. Arsenal like to dominate possession and play a patient passing game, this would play right into the hands of Thomas Frank’s side who opt for a more direct game. The game started off just as expected, yet Arteta’s side were unable to create any clear-cut chances at all.
As an attack for the visitors broke down, Brentford looked to counter. It was played into the path of Mbuemo, who made a beeline for The Gunners’ goal. As he looked to cut inside onto his left foot, he drilled his shot into the bottom corner to give the hosts an unlikely lead. Questions will be asked of Raya in the Arsenal goal, who should not be getting beaten at his near post.
The ground was bouncing as they dreamt of causing a major upset in West London. A long ball forward from Flekken was flicked on into the path of Lewis-Potter. He cut inside into the box before getting a shot away that went straight through the hands of Raya. The Spaniard went scrambling back to his goal and managed to claw it off the line.
Brentford were adamant that it had gone in but goal line technology is the one thing we can truly trust. The referee checked his watch and the later replay showed that the ball was some way from completely crossing the line. Either way, as pundits said it was an amazing save from Raya, the reality is it was all from his own doing. The initial shot that went through his hands was a world-class blunder.
The hosts’ defending was truly woeful. While Arteta’s side continued to knock on the door, The Bees were inviting them back by not clearing their lines. Partey tried a shot from outside the box which drew a good save from Flekken. However, he parried it back into the danger area and Jesus reacted quickest to head home and draw Arsenal level.
Into the second-half and whatever Arteta said to his team in the break seemed to do the trick. As Frank’s side struggled to clear an Arsenal corner, it was like a game of pinball in the box. Finally it dropped to Merino who smashed it into the back of the net to give The Gunners’ the lead. You could not say that it was not coming and Brentford had been the architects of their own downfall.
At this stage the visitors were brimming with confidence. Nwaneri was proving to be a competent stand-in for the injured Saka and sent an inviting inswinging cross into the box. Once again The Bees failed to clear it fully and it dropped to Martinelli in the box. He had time to control it on his thigh before thundering a volley into the far corner to double The Gunners’ lead.
The goal had given Arsenal complete control of the game. Now it was all about game management. Arteta had chosen to leave Rice on the bench for the game but it seemed an obvious decision to bring him on at this stage to shut up shop. Of course, as Brentford committed more men forward chasing the game it would allow the visitors to pick them off on the counter.
Jesus had the chance to truly wrap things up but dragged his shot wide of the target. Every time The Gunners came forward, they looked like they were going to score. Brentford had gone four games without a win and with this display of defending, you could understand why. This was something that Thomas Frank needed to desperately address before their season completely derailed itself.
The Bees continued to press and stretch the Arsenal defence. As all could see however, they just did not seem to have that killer pass in the final third of the pitch. Most weeks the attacking play of Frank’s side is capable of opening anyone up but it had certainly left them for this game. The visitors were holding them at bay all too easily.
If you had seen the stats for the final quarter of the game, Brentford dominated possession. But as is always so true in football, it means nothing unless you can find the end product. Even the players started to look frustrated with their inability to start testing Raya in the Arsenal goal. The fans were certainly feeling it, that is for sure.
Mikel Arteta’s side held on for the all-important win. They moved to second in the table and were now only six points behind Liverpool. Brentford had extended their winless run to five games and what was even more worrying, they were starting to look very beatable at home in the process. It is going to be a challenging 2025 for both sides, for very different reasons.
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