LONDON — When Bryan Mbeumo crashed into David Raya’s near post, you could be forgiven for thinking that was it as far as Arsenal’s title race was concerned. Nine points behind a Liverpool that is reaching the highest levels in Europe, with one more game played? Whatever Mikel Arteta had said afterwards, it would have been difficult to convince anyone that Arsenal were changing that.
Fortress G-Tech (is it from a JRPG?) might have been breached by Nottingham Forest before Christmas, but Thomas Frank’s men are a formidable opponent on their own turf, more than capable of scoring their first goal in the 13th minute .Brentford have ruined great days for Arsenal before. West London was bracing for the same thing again.
Much more than that, this seemed like the right time for Arsenal to run out of steam. Their first real test without Bukayo Saka and they would also have to do without Kai Havertz, the perfect target for Raya’s breaking pitches, sidelined by illness. Some on the pitch also looked worse for wear after New Year’s Eve, with Arteta confirming after the match that players “on and off the pitch” were battling the virus.
It looked like the left flank of Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli needed the reps it hadn’t had all season. For half an hour, Gabriel Jesús walked the field with his arms raised in response to another duel in which Nathan Collins had rejected him. The relentless upheaval in the front row – Ethan Nwaneri making his first Premier League start on the right flank – meant his press was completely neutralised.
Take a spell in the 24th minute. A lateral pass along the Brentford defense reaches Sepp van den Berg and Martin Odegaard calls his troops forward. Nwaneri, brilliant on the ball, needed instructions and arrived a little late to Keane Lewis-Potter. Still, the ball returned to the field and Jesus covered Collins. The little problem? Nobody had caught Christian Norgaard, who showed a direct pass from Mark Flekken through the center of the field. In an instant, Brentford moved forward.
It seemed cruelly appropriate that Odegaard, whose two-month absence in the autumn sidetracked Arsenal in the first place, had a part to play in what looked like the end of the road. Mikkel Damsgaard caught a rare loose pass; In his frustration with himself, the Arsenal captain chased the ball rather than regaining form. Calafiori found himself isolated against Mbeumo and the end result was inevitable.
“When we lost a goal, it became a big mountain to climb,” Arteta said. “The team showed a lot of composure, they were very calm emotionally because we needed it in today’s game. They also had the right desire to continue insisting, to continue attacking them and reading them in a way that is difficult.”
They showed composure in due course, certainly, but not immediately after Brentford’s first game. If Raya hadn’t reacted with such urgency when she threatened to knock Lewis-Potter’s shot into her own goal, treading the ball to safety with a big left glove, then perhaps we’d be saying the same thing about the title race.
“What’s going through my mind? I hope the clock doesn’t vibrate. That’s all,” Arteta said.
For a moment, fear seemed to have reached Arsenal. Was it the feeling that they couldn’t do this without Saka? Were they having flashbacks to Ivan Toney’s reflections on Ben White in the summer of 2021? Whatever it was, for a time it seemed like the basics were missing from one of England’s best teams. They went back to that team that can’t do it on a rainy and windy Wednesday in Prime Hounslow.
But that’s not this team. All they needed was a little nudge to remind them. Seconds after Raya’s save, Gabriel Jesus, enjoying something of a poacher’s rebirth, headed in the rebound from Thomas Partey’s shot and Arsenal woke up again.
It took until the second half for their improvements to be significantly reflected on the scoreboard, and Brentford’s 11 stubborn bodies around the box stemmed Arsenal’s tide. Before long, many defenders began to become more of a hindrance than a help, Flekken colliding with what seemed like half his team while attempting to clear a Nwaneri corner taken with a Saka-style dive in his six-yard box. Merino was present to return home. He may not be the most stylish midfielder Arsenal have ever bought, but Arteta didn’t sign him for a pretty build-up game. He is a box crash, bang, walloper, a big body whose mere presence can unnerve defenders as big as Brentford’s.
“The density with which they defend when they are deep requires people with a lot of threat in the area,” said their coach. “He’s a master at that.”
Merino flew into the area again three minutes later. He didn’t really do much with Nwaneri’s last cross. No matter, the ball deflected right into Martinelli’s path to volley home.
Arsenal had their lead 3-1. It was more than they needed. It is becoming almost routine to confirm that this defense is the best there is. What shouldn’t go unnoticed is how much better than the rest it could be. After Raya’s uproar, Arsenal would only concede two shots in more than an hour of football. For the fifth time in six league games, their opponent took shots with a value of less than 0.3 xG. We are no longer at the best levels of sports defense. This is right up there with Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, a level of excellence you can’t convince yourself is sustainable.
Those numbers speak to the sheer belligerence on this side. One goal conceded rarely generates two and in all of 2024 it never led to more. When they fall into moments of doubt, they strive to get out. They surely won’t believe their league season is over.
Arsenal are undoubtedly still a long shot, even more so with Saka sidelined. Still, you wouldn’t put them in their way. A win at Brighton on Saturday night will take the Gunners just three points off the leaders before they face Manchester United. After that, Liverpool’s lead will be six points with a game in hand, enough to make them big favorites. The other rivals for the title, however, know that it only takes one injury to one of those key players for family problems to affect Arne Slot.
It has been Arteta’s misfortune that this has happened twice, first Odegaard and now Saka. In all likelihood, the title would be out of reach for any team whose two best attackers have missed more than two months. For now, however, Arsenal refuse to accept that reality.
