Arsenal missed an opportunity to re-establish a six-point cushion at the top of the Premier League after being held to a disappointing 1-1 draw at Brentford.
The Gunners’ advantage had already been cut in half earlier in the week when Manchester City overcame Fulham, and Mikel Arteta knew his side faced a stern test against opponents who had been beaten only twice on home soil all season.
The opening 45 minutes were largely uneventful, with Arsenal failing to find rhythm or space against a disciplined Brentford defence. However, the visitors finally broke through shortly after the hour mark, as Noni Madueke nodded Piero Hincapie’s delivery back across goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher to put them ahead.
That breakthrough appeared set to deliver a crucial victory in the title chase, but Brentford responded just ten minutes later. Keane Lewis-Potter showed sharp reactions to head home following a flick-on from another long Michael Kayode throw, restoring parity.
As the match entered its closing stages, Brentford remained dangerous from dead-ball situations, despite Arteta turning to his bench and introducing Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Riccardo Calafiori in search of a winner.
Late chances fell at both ends: Igor Thiago was denied by a superb last-ditch challenge from Cristhian Mosquera, while Martinelli was thwarted in stoppage time by an impressive save from Kelleher, ensuring the points were shared.
Speaking after the match, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta lamented the lack of ruthlessness in his side’s effort as he praised Brentford’s form at home.
“If you want to win here, you’re going to have to be really ruthless in both boxes and today we lacked that. They are exceptional at what they do. The chaos that is in and around that ball is very, very difficult to defend.”
“The first 10-15 minutes we lacked certain composure to dominate the game better. I think after that we started to play much more in our way and started to play in their half and generated some good situations without really having clear-cut chances.
“The second half, the way we started, we really looked to threat. The way we combined, the way we threat constantly their backline and the goalkeeper, it was much better. Again, without really hitting the target enough times or finishing enough actions, and then we scored the goal and the game was under total control.”
