Keith Andrews noticed the Brentford equaliser hit the again of the web. He hurtled off the bench and leapt on the shoulders of Jordan Henderson, who was ready to come back on. His elation was for his crew however his bounce of pleasure could properly have been re-enacted a few hundred miles to the north in Manchester.
Keane Lewis-Potter’s 71st minute aim meant two dropped factors for Arsenal and signalled the rebirth of a title race that many had declared over when Liverpool went forward in opposition to Manchester Metropolis at Anfield on Sunday.
However Metropolis fought again to win that recreation and now Arsenal have faltered and Mikel Arteta’s facet solely maintain a four-point lead over Metropolis with 12 video games left to go. Metropolis swept Fulham apart the Wednesday night time and Arsenal’s failure to do the identical on the Gtech Group Stadium means the battle has been joined.
We must always not have been stunned by Brentford’s efficiency. They’ve overwhelmed Aston Villa, Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United right here in west London already this season and so they deserved their level on Thursday night time.
These in quest of any early indicators of nerves within the Arsenal gamers had some defensive jitters to cling on to. Gabriel struck an supposed backpass straight out for a nook after which David Raya let one other backpass roll below his foot and in direction of aim. He recovered simply in time.
The house crowd grew to become rapidly pissed off by a string of marginal selections getting into Arsenal’s favour. Their exasperation was shared by Brentford boss Keith Andrews, who was booked halfway by way of the half for expressing his dismay as soon as too typically.
Arsenal dropped two factors within the title race with a 1-1 draw at Brentford on Thursday night time
Keane Lewis-Potter (centre) scored Brentford’s equaliser to disclaim Arsenal all three factors
Noni Madueke initially gave Arsenal the lead on 61 minutes earlier than Lewis-Potter’s equaliser
When Brentford did discover some solace, it was Arsenal who introduced it to them. Raya, a former Brentford keeper, appeared to get confused who it was he performed for now and rolled the ball straight out to Mathias Jensen as he tried to arrange an Arsenal counter-attack.
Jensen seized on his surprising alternative and curled a cross into the field. Igor Thiago rose majestically to fulfill it however his header was simply too near Raya, who redeemed himself for his error by flinging himself to his left and palming the ball away to security.
Arsenal struggled to search out inspiration. They confirmed loads of endeavour and so they had loads of possession however they might not discover a spark. Eberechi Eze went down within the field however appeals for a penalty appeared wildly optimistic. By half-time, it was Brentford who appeared the extra possible facet to make a breakthrough.
Arteta reacted by bringing Odegaard on for Eze at half-time and it nearly paid dividends instantly. Odegaard lifted a fragile chip over a defender to Piero Hincapie and his pushed cross simply eluded the lunging proper boot of Viktor Gyokeres.
There was extra urgency and extra invention in Arsenal’s recreation now and so they took the lead after an hour. Hincapie retrieved a poor clearance on the Arsenal left and swung a cross to the again put up the place Noni Madueke leapt early and directed his header again throughout aim. Caoimhin Kelleher was wrong-footed and the ball bounced over the road. It was a basic centre ahead’s header scored by a quicksilver winger.
Brentford ought to have equalised right away. Jensen hoisted a nook to the again put up the place Keane Lewis-Potter was ready unmarked. He met it properly however with the aim at his mercy, he steered his header down and large.
