Brentford 1 Arsenal 1
Arsenal will take the point. Brentford has proven to be a nasty place to go for most teams so far this season and that was no different for Arsenal tonight. From the off Arsenal looked a bit nervy with a mix up between David Raya and Declan Rice nearly giving Brentford the opening goal after Jensen crossed to Igor Thiago who probably should have made it 1-0 but Raya managed to make amends and get a hand to it to keep the game at 0-0 in the first half. The second half was much better for the neutral with Noni Madueke opening the scoring with a header from Hincapie’s cross which put Arsenal in the lead in the 61st minute. That goal seemed to spark Brentford into life and it didn’t take long for Keane Lewis-Potter to draw Brentford level from a signature Brentford long-throw in the 71st minute to set up a grand stand finish. In the last 20 minutes Brentford probably had the better chances to win it with Igor Thiago somehow not getting on the scoresheet but Martinelli had the chance to give Arsenal all 3 points but shot straight at Kelleher to keep the teams level at 1-1 in the end.
Arsenal’s attack yet again lets them down. I feel like I’ve been saying this all season but yet again Arsenal’s attackers let the team down when they need a win, Martinelli at the end had the chance to keep Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table to 6 points but took the ball too close to Kelleher who managed to make the save. The rest of Arsenal’s attack yet again flattered to deceive with Eze in particular having an awful first half and getting hooked off at half-time in place for Odegaard, Viktor Gyokeres yet again failed to make the impact he was bought for and only really Trossard and Madueke can hold their heads up when it comes to going forward for Arsenal. They might go on to win the league but that won’t stop this team going down as one of the worst attacking sides to ever win the league in my opinion, we know that they’ll go down as one of the best defensively but the attack has taken a hit in favour of the defence in my opinion.
Brentford could qualify for Europe this season. I think if you had said this to anyone before the season started they would have called you crazy, especially me who had Brentford in 18th before the season started but it shows how well Keith Andrews has done so far for Brentford this season. There’s not many teams that can put Arsenal under so much pressure, especially in that 20 minutes or so when Brentford probably should have got that second goal to win the game. Brentford stay in 7th place and are 2 points off Liverpool in 6th with Everton just 3 points off Brentford in 8th place, with the current form that Brentford are on they have to try and maintain that 7th spot at least from the likes of Newcastle, Bournemouth, Everton etc who might be eyeing that spot. Even if they don’t qualify for Europe, this season has been a massive success for Brentford after so many people including me had them going down to the Championship after losing Wissa, Mbeumo and Norgaard along with Thomas Frank in the summer, it’ll be interesting to see Brentford’s recruitment strategy in the summer after such a good season.
Did Ebere Eze make the wrong move? I touched on it earlier but did Eze make a mistake moving to Arsenal in the summer? Yet again tonight he failed to make an impact on the game and whenever he starts he seems to get subbed off earlier and earlier at the minute. This move was so important to get right for Eze who’s now 27 years of age but he looks a shell of the player he was this time last year, he seems to be so restricted under Mikel Arteta at the minute that I can’t help but draw comparisons to Jack Grealish at Manchester City. Grealish won plenty of trophies at Manchester City but I wonder if he regrets that move from a personal standpoint with how restricted he was on that left-wing when he was playing. The same might be the case for Eze who might win the league this season but doesn’t really play a massive part in it other than one match against Spurs in November. I wonder what he’s thinking at the minute about how his move has gone so far?
The gap at the top narrows for Arsenal. City put a bit of pressure on Arsenal yesterday with a brilliant performance against Fulham at the Etihad and Arsenal might be looking round their shoulder over the next few weeks to try and keep that gap at least 4 points when they play each other in April. A draw isn’t the end of the world for Arsenal who could extend that lead to 7 points if they beat Wolves next Wednesday at Molineux which you would expect, City look to have gone into another gear over the last couple of weeks beating Liverpool and Fulham with Arsenal knowing all too well what can happen if you slip up against City in a title race. Complacency isn’t an option for Arsenal this year who might be under the most pressure to win the league that I’ve seen a team in quite some time. They simply cannot afford to let City back in after keeping them at bay for so long this season, a big few weeks lie ahead for Arsenal and Man City before that Carabao Cup final in March which could could be massive for both sides momentum going into the crunch part of the season.