Brentford give title chasers Arsenal a bloody nose in helter-skelter encounter that underlines their own ambitions
- By Yann Tear at the Gtech Community Stadium
- 8 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Premier League
Brentford (0) 1 Lewis-Potter 71
Arsenal (0) 1 Madueke 61
Brentford's ever-increasing belief in the possibility of reaching Europe got another massive boost as they recovered after trailing to put a severe dent in the Arsenal title bid.
The Gunners saw their lead at the top of the Premier League whittled down to three points after Man City's dramatic late win at Liverpool and badly wanted to reassert their six-point lead with three points at the Gtech. But the Bees simply refused to play ball.
Noni Madueke's goal on the hour appeared to have laid the foundations for those precious points but Keith Andrews' men are nobody's fools on home soil - they have a great record in west London - and they deservedly drew level with a Keane Lewis-Potter header 10 minutes later.
In the end, they were the stronger side, creating the greater danger. Arsenal were perhaps thankful to excape with a draw by the end.
In a first half of minimal real chances, the closest either side came was down to a glaring mistake by former Bees stopper David Raya - who promptly atoned for a blunder with a superb stop to deny Igor Thiago a goal from a close range header.
Raya collected a ball and wanted to set Arsenal up for a quick counter-attack but his rolled pass to Declan Rice just outside the area was ill-advised.
The midfielder was quickly dispossessed and Mathias Jensen's cross looked as if it must be put away by the Brazilian. Raya make an excellent instinctive save.
Arsenal badly needed to up the tempo and after the break, having no doubt been given a bit a dressing down by Mikel Arteta, they began to inject the sort of intensity me might have expected from the start.
Martin Odegaard came on for Eberechi Eze, who had not done much in the first 45, and the Gunners immediately gave the Bees more to think about.
Leandro Trossard cut into the box to fire off a shot that Kristoffer Ajer blocked for a corner as the pressure built. Odegaard blazed over after again instigating an attack.
The extra urgency was rewarded just past the hour when Piero Hincapie collected an attempted clearance from Michael Kayode wide on the left flank and in the middle, Madueke rose above Rico Henry to guide a header back across goal and beyond Caoimhin Kelleher's despairing dive.
The Bees responded superbly, though, earning a number of corners, almost converting one of them when Lewis-Potter had an unimpeded header at the far post that flew just wide.
Then Thiago almost profited from a slip by Cristhian Mosquera - replacing an unwell William Saliba - to race in from half way before being denied by Raya as defenders closed in on him. Gabriel's head then got in the way of a Kayode strike.
The Bees were the ones now cranking it up and when Kayode launched one of his touchline bombs from a throw-in, Sepp van Den Berg nodded it on for Lewis-Potter to send a header past Raya.
And the home set pieces kept coming. Arsenal may have established themselves as the king of the corners but the Bees gave out more than they got this time and had the visitors' defence in a flap on more than one occasion.
"Second again, ole, ole," crowed taunting home fans at the Gunners. They were loving their evening way more than the away end, who suffered the sinking feeling of a lost opportunity.
It might have been even worse for them. The Bees came close to a winner too when Thiago gave Mosquera the slip and it needed a superb recovery tackle from the Ecuadorian denied his South American counterpart a clear shot at goal.
And he also crashed a shot over the bar in injury time as both teams passed up chances to win it at the death. Sub Gabi Martinelli was thwarted by Kelleher after Jurrien Timber had led a swift breakaway.
It was a breathless finish.
Bees: (4-2-3-1) Kelleher - Kayode, Ajer, van den Berg, Henry (Hickey 95) - Yarmoliuk (Henderson 72), Janelt - Ouatarra, Jensen, Lewis-Potter (Damsgaard 72) - Thiago
Gunners: (4-3-3) Raya - Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Hincapie (Calafiori 81) - Eze (Odegaard h/t), Zubimendi, Rice - Madueke (Saka 70), Gyokeres, Trossard (Martinelli 81)
Attendance: 17,224
