Arsenal 1 Brentford 1: Gunners blow another lead after Partey strike as Liverpool need just three wins to clinch title

FROM really great to really rather average.

It was very much a case of after the Lord Mayor’s Show as Arsenal paid the price for a not-quite-there performance after their momentous Champions League win over Real Madrid.

The home fans thought it was Partey time again when right back Thomas gave them a second-half lead.

It looked like being enough to decide the game, especially when Mikel Arteta sent on a few of the big Guns he had rested ahead of Wednesday’s second leg.

Instead it was Brentford substitute Michael Kayode who made a big impact at both ends, playing his part in the move that set up Yoane Wissa for his 15th league goal of the season and then preventing Bukayo Saka from restoring the home team’s lead.

You could argue it was perfectly reasonable for Arteta and his players to regard the English title as gone and to focus on succeeding Real as kings of Europe.

But intensity is hard to turn on and off.

Arsenal should have enough about them to go to Madrid and convert a 3-0 lead into a place in the last four of Europe’s blue riband competition.

Yet if Real score first and relatively early, the Gunners may yet regret not going into the game with another victory under their belt.

Credit to Brentford, too, for not folding after going a goal down.

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With less daunting fixtures than this to come, they can still dream of playing in Europe themselves next season.

Arteta made five changes from the Real victory, but hero Declan Rice, a man who makes the Duracell Bunny look like a slacker, was not one of them.

When the name of free-kick king Rice was read out before kick off, it naturally received the biggest cheer.

The sun was out, the mood was festive.

But for the first 20 minutes, the football was forgettable.

It looked and felt like a pre-season friendly.

Arsenal probed a bit, with Gabriel Martinelli forcing goalkeeper Mark Flekken into a block and full back Kristoffer Ajer into a well-timed challenge.

Yet the first proper chance fell to the visitors in the 22nd minute and they really should have scored.

Bryan Mbeumo collected Mikkel Damsgaard’s crossfield pass and rolled it into Ajer’s path.

But the big man could not find a big finish and David Raya saved more comfortably than he could have hoped.

Stung into action, Arsenal thought they were ahead a few minutes later after a series of corners.

Kieran Tierney headed in Ethan Nwaneri’s cross for what would have been his first goal since December 2021, only for the VAR to rule him offside.

The home fans’ frustration grew when Christian Norgaard was only booked for a foul on Martinelli.

Flekken saved from Oleksandr  Zinchenko, who was playing in a midfield role, and Ajer made a superb block on a Martinelli effort.

Rice drew a save from Flekken, then another direct from the resulting corner, before the busy Bees keeper also denied Leandro Trossard, as the Gunners ended the half very much on top.

The home fans were not exactly enthralled. Thousands of those in the posh seats were not in place to rattle their jewellery for some time after the action resumed for the second half. .

For a while, “action” was a generous word, mind you.

All the players were just about doing enough to prove they were trying but few apart from Nwaneri were really going that extra mile to make something happen.

When Rice finally stood over a free kick in a dangerous position, in the 58th minute, he ignored cries of “Shoot!”from the home fans, took it short and then fired the return pass straight into the Brentford wall.

But just as Arteta was losing patience like any neutral watching on television, and preparing to send on Martin Odegaard, Rice created the opening goal.

From their own corner, Brentford suddenly found themselves on the wrong end of a three-v-two break.

Rice charged forward and time his pass to Partey perfectly. But Flekken will be disappointed to have been beaten at his near post, however powerful the shot.

If the Bees were deflated by the goal, they could hardly have been encouraged to see Arteta send on the cavalry anyway, in the shape of Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Myles Lews-Skelly.

But after another lull in the game, it was a Brentford substitute who made the difference.

After an initial corner, Kayode crossed to the far post, Nathan Collins headed the ball back into the six-yard box and Wissa hooked it in impressively.

Kayode immediately made a crucial contribution at the other end.

Flekken tried to be too clever and was robbed by Saka. But as the winger advanced towards an empty net, Kayode made up enough ground to put the ball behind for a corner.

It was all Arsenal for the rest of the game, but they could not find a winner, with Saka shooting wide in the last of six minutes of stoppage time.