Arsenal 1-1 Brentford: Highs and not highs

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

After the high of Real Madrid, there was the not high of Brentford yesterday. It wasn’t a low, but it so obviously felt a lot different.

The team selection reflected that, changes were made, Ben White was missing again after a knock in training, and players like Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were on the bench. Kieran Tierney flashed home a header which was ruled out for offside on the weekend semi-automated offside technology was implemented. To be fair, the decision came pretty quickly, but they didn’t show anything on the big screens as far as I could tell. I thought that was going to happen, maybe I missed it.

Christian Norgaard hacked down Gabriel Martinelli as he tried to break into the Brentford half. The ref quickly issued a yellow card, and then I saw Mikel Arteta going mad on the sideline, presumably after they’d seen a replay on the bench. I’ve seen it again since, and it’s one of those where if a red had been issued, the Brentford player couldn’t have complained. He flew in from behind, the kind of tackle that has been outlawed for a long time, but in this era – despite that – we know that the threshold for a red card is higher than it should be under the auspices of Howard Webb’s PGMOL.

Certainly Martinelli wasn’t happy about it, saying afterwards:

My opinion, in the moment, if my foot was on the floor he could break my leg. He said he didn’t mean it, I believe him, but still, he could have broke my leg. For me, it was red. I need to see it again, but for me it was nasty.

It’s quite rare to hear a player talk like that, so that tells you something, and if an Arsenal player had made that challenge and been sent off, there’s no way I could sit here this morning and defend them. The Brazilian then had a chance well blocked after he’d taken down a lovely pass from William Saliba (our best player on the day, imo), Trossard forced Flekken into a save just before the break, and that was about that for the opening 45.

Arsenal’s goal, just after the hour mark, was the kind of strike we don’t score that often – a breakaway that other teams seem to have in their locker. David Raya (what was with his shorts and socks, btw?) caught a Brentford corner and bowled the ball out to Rice. He skipped outside an opponent, drove forward to the edge of their box and played it into the path of Thomas Partey whose finish was excellent. He’d covered some ground to be in that position too.

The equaliser came about 10 minutes later, I have to see it back again, but it just looked a bit sloppy at the back from us after we’d initially cleared a corner, Yoane Wissa is a dangerous man in the box, and his finish from close range levelled the scores. Changes were made, Odegaard, Lewis-Skelly and Saka came on. Then Partey went down to be replaced by Jurrien Timber, before Mikel Merino came on for Declan Rice. That meant when Jorginho had to go off, we played the final stages with 10 men.

Saka had a chance which went wide, and that was basically that. Another draw, there have been too many of those this season, but in the context of what we did in midweek and what we have to do in Madrid on Wednesday, it’s perhaps one of the more understandable ones this season. It didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know about this team and what it needs, but all eyes are on Europe now and that’s pretty obvious.

Afterwards, Mikel Arteta said:

I think we have to be critical with ourselves, especially the way we conceded the goal. Against Brentford, you know what they have. You have a free-kick, the goalie is going to put it there.

We still have six games to play in the Premier League, which are going to be really important, for sure. But, for now, it’s all about Wednesday.

Obviously Jorginho is a doubt for that trip, suggestions of a broken rib seem to be doing the rounds, and Arteta said Partey ‘felt something’ so that’s one to keep an eye on over the coming days. Fingers crossed there are no further fitness complications between now and Wednesday, which is where the attention turns to now.

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Right, I’m gonna haul my aching body to the airport and back to Dublin. Having rebooted the old Arseblog 5-a-side tournament yesterday at Market Road, there are some niggles to take care of this morning. Still, it was good fun to run around (a bit) and see some old friends again.

We’ll have an Arsecast Extra tomorrow which might be entirely about how the young lad behind me booed everything Brentford did at every opportunity. He was very impressive. For now, have a great Sunday.

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