Arsenal and Brentford draw 1-1­­–Arsenal’s 12th Draw of the Season

After Arsenal’s emphatic 3-0 Champions League win against Real Madrid on Tuesday night at the Emirates, it was no real surprise that Arteta changed his lineup against Brentford, wanting to keep key players rested for the return leg at the Bernabéu.

We know Brentford is an energetic team and transitions well from defense to attack, with Mbeumo and Wissa leading the charge for the Bees. Believe it or not, Brentford is still in for a shout for European football next season. They are only five points off eighth place, which could potentially be good enough for a place in Europe, depending on variables from the remaining English teams in Europe and the winner of the FA Cup.

The First Half

The game itself didn’t really get going from a neutral perspective. It was clear that Arteta had the second leg of the Champions League in the back of his mind, opting not to start the likes of Odegaard, Saka, Merino, and Timber. Arsenal’s primary source of creativity comes from Odegaard, and as we saw earlier in the season, Arsenal struggled without him when he was injured.

Arsenal dominated possession of the ball, trying to break down a well-organized Brentford team. As for Brentford, they sat deep, soaked up pressure, and tried to hit Arsenal on the counter-attack or cause turnovers in midfield. When Arsenal had sustained possession in Brentford’s half and had them pinned in around their penalty area at times, Arsenal players, the likes of Trossard and Nwaneri, would strategically place themselves in between the center-backs and the full-backs and try to create space for themselves or teammates by making runs in behind. Their movement allowed Rice to sometimes drive with the ball into the space vacated by one of the Arsenal attackers as a Brentford player would have to choose whether or not to follow the runner, leaving space for the ball carrier to drive into. Arsenal, however, did have a Kieran Tierney goal ruled out for offsides with the help of semi-automated offsides.

Second Half Goals

A beautiful, fast-paced counter-attack started the scoring. Raya went and claimed the ball from a corner kick delivery and quickly released the ball to Rice as he drove from the top of Arsenal’s box to Brentford’s. He had two runners with him, Martinelli to his left and Partey to his right. As Rice was driving forward with the ball, you could see him analyzing his options and choosing to tee up a Partey, who finished it near post.  

After the goal, Arteta put on Odegaard, Lewis-Skelly, Saka, and Timber, hoping they would help see out the game. When those guys came on, Arsenal controlled the tempo of the game, and their attacking rhythm was in full flow. However, when in possession, Arsenal was still vulnerable to the counter as they were left exposed when they chose to create overloads in the wide areas.

Brentford forced a turnover in midfield and put Mbuemo through, who earned a corner, but the goal came from the second phase of the corner. Mbuemo slipped a pass through to Kayode, who lofted a cross back post where Collins headed it back into the crowd, where Wissa was able to swivel towards the ball and put his shot away into the back of the net.

Just after Brentford equalized, Flekken had a nervy moment with a poor fist touch just outside the 18, which was pounced on by Saka, but he failed to get his shot away as a recovering Kayode was able to poke the ball away from him.

What’s Next

Arsenal looks to secure their spot in the Champions League Semifinals as they head to Madrid for their second-leg quarter-final match against Real Madrid–Arsenal’s last appearance in the Champions League semifinals was during the 2008/09 season. For Brentford, they go against Brighton, a team in pursuit of European football next season.

 Featured Image from Sky Sports