LONDON — As Bryan Mbeumo drove in at David Raya’s near post, you could be forgiven for thinking Arsenal’s title race had ended.
With one game remaining, nine points are taken away from a Liverpool team that is at the top of its game in Europe. Regardless of what Mikel Arteta said later, convincing anyone that Arsenal were turning a corner would have been difficult.
Nottingham Forest may have breached Fortress G-Tech (is that from a JRPG?) before Christmas, but Thomas Frank’s side is a formidable opponent at home, capable of adding to their 13th-minute lead.
Brentford have previously spoiled big days for Arsenal. West London was gearing up for the same thing.
More than that, this seemed like the perfect time for Arsenal to run out of steam. Their first real test without Bukayo Saka, and they’d also be without Kai Havertz, the ideal target for Raya’s press-breaking launches, who was sidelined due to illness.
A few on the pitch appeared worse for wear after New Year’s Eve, with Arteta confirming after the game that players “on and off the pitch” were battling the bug.
The left flank of Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, and Gabriel Martinelli appeared to be in need of reps after a lack of them all season.
Gabriel Jesus walked across the pitch for half an hour, arms raised in response to another duel in which he was brushed aside by Nathan Collins.
The constant turnover on the frontline, including Ethan Nwaneri making his Premier League debut on the right flank, rendered their press completely ineffective.
Take a spell in the 24th minute. Martin Odegaard calls his troops forward after a sideways pass along Brentford’s backline to Sepp van den Berg.
Nwaneri, who was quick on the ball, needed instructions and arrived a little late to Keane Lewis-Potter. Still, the ball moved back infield, with Jesus covering Collins.
The minor issue? No one had picked up Christian Norgaard, indicating a simple pass from Mark Flekken up the middle of the pitch. Brentford made rapid progress.
It felt cruelly appropriate that Odegaard, whose two-month absence in the autumn had thrown Arsenal off course in the first place, should play a role in what appeared to be the end of the road.
Mikkel Damsgaard intercepted a rare loose pass, and in his frustration with himself, the Arsenal captain chased the ball rather than regaining his form. Calafiori found himself isolated against Mbeumo, with the outcome inevitable.
“When we went a goal down it became a big mountain to climb,” Arteta told me. “The team maintained a high level of composure and emotional calm, which was necessary for today’s game.
They had the right desire to keep insisting, attacking them, and reading them in a difficult manner.”
They regained their composure eventually, but not immediately after Brentford’s opener. If Raya hadn’t reacted so quickly when he threatened to spill Lewis-Potter’s shot into his own net, pawing the ball to safety with a big left glove, we might be saying the same thing about the title race.
“What’s going through my mind?” Hopefully, the watch won’t vibrate. “That’s it,” Arteta stated.
Arsenal appeared to be overcome by fear for a brief moment. Was there a sense that they couldn’t do it without Saka? Were they experiencing flashbacks to Ivan Toney’s mullering of Ben White in the summer of 2021?
Whatever it was, one of England’s best teams appeared to be lacking in fundamentals for a while. They were back to the team that couldn’t do it on a wet and windy Wednesday in Stoke Hounslow.
However, that is not the case with this team. They only needed a little push to remember that. Seconds after Raya’s save from himself, Gabriel Jesus, who is enjoying a poacher’s renaissance, scrambled home the rebound from Thomas Partey’s shot, and Arsenal regained control.
It took until the second half for their improvements to be meaningfully reflected on the scoreboard, with 11 stubborn Brentford bodies around the box slowing Arsenal’s progress.
Before long, many defenders became more of a hindrance than a help, with Flekken colliding with what appeared to be half of his team while attempting to clear a Nwaneri corner delivered with a Saka-like dip into his six-yard box. Merino was ready to return home.
He may not be the most elegant midfielder Arsenal has ever purchased, but Arteta didn’t sign him for flashy build-up play. He’s a box-crushing, banging walloper with a big body who can confuse even Brentford’s biggest defenders.
“The density that they defend with when they are deep requires people with a lot of threat in the box,” said his superior. “He’s a master of that.”
Merino flew into the box again three minutes later. He didn’t accomplish much with the latest Nwaneri cross. No matter, the ball deflected into Martinelli’s path, allowing him to volley home.
Arsenal had a 3-1 lead. It was more than they required. It is becoming almost habitual to mention that this defense is the best there is. What should not be overlooked is how much better than the rest it may be. Following Raya’s blunder, Arsenal allowed only two shots in over an hour of football.
For the fifth time in six league games, their opponents attempted shots worth less than 0.3 xG. We are no longer at the best-defense-in-sports levels. This is up there with Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, a level of excellence that you can’t quite believe is sustainable.
These figures demonstrate the sheer belligerence of this side. A single goal conceded rarely leads to two, and in 2024, none did. When they have doubts, they pull themselves together. They will not believe their league season has ended.
Arsenal remain long shots, especially with Saka sidelined. Still, you would not put yourself in their path. Win at Brighton on Saturday evening, and the Gunners will be just three points behind the leaders before facing Manchester United. After that, Liverpool will have a six-point lead with a game in hand, making them strong favorites.
The other title contenders, on the other hand, understand that an injury to one of those lynchpin players could bring back old problems for Arne Slot.
It has been Arteta’s misfortune that this has occurred twice, once with Odegaard and now with Saka. Any team whose two best attackers have been absent for more than two months is unlikely to win the title. For the time being, Arsenal refuses to accept that reality.