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Arsenal avenged their surprise opening day defeat with a comfortable and thoroughly deserved victory against Brentford. The 2-1 score line was something of a travesty and did not reflect our clear superiority. Two second half goals by our two home-grown tyros, ESR and Saka, clinched victory after a frustrating first half.

My day began with severe travel disruption. I had fixed lunch with the Countrymen in Holloway Road and after Storm Eunice yesterday had left copious margins in my projected travel time. Sadly I arrived at a station to see a notice that all services were suspended; thankfully a train arrived about an hour later and proceeded to make very reasonable time to St.Pancras, disgorging a lot of Happy Hammers at Stratford on the way. I made lunch, and it was an excellent occasion with C100 and his son. The wine flowed (and a little Grappa) and we made our way subsequently to a wet but expectant Home of Football. It was almost exactly two years since I had seen Arsenal both score and win, my last goal being an Aubameyang header against Everton in what I think was a 3-2 win in February 2020. Arsenal were without the suspended Martinelli and the injured Tomiyasu but our Japanese defender made the bench. Toney was missing for Brentford and boy was his absence a problem for them.

I had treated myself to Club Level in the South-east corner and I’ve rarely had a better view of a football match. It was worth watching too although the first half was a little frustrating. Our passing rhythm was quicker than our last home game against Burnley and Partey and Odegaard were heavily involved in most of our attacks. Lacazette fired home from an ESR pass after 15 minutes but it was disallowed for offside. Our finishing was loose with Lacazette off the pace again and Saka and ESR missing presentable chances. We forced a number of corners but Brentford defended stoutly and looked organised; at the same time they made virtually no progress forwards, and White and Gabriel were able to push forward enterprisingly. A huge part of Arsenal’s game is related to creating overloads on the opposite wing and there is strong emphasis on keeping a structured shape in and out of possession.

As we moved towards half-time our pressure intensified and we had two very reasonable shouts for penalties turned down. Lacazette was bundled over by Ajer and then I felt quite strongly that Wisser had blocked a Saka cross with his arm. Jon Moss was unmoved by both appeals. Incidentally the programme (you get a free one in Club) had Martin Atkinson down to referee. He had apparently refereed fifteen PL games as well as several Carabao Cup games and has brandished only two red cards this season .Guess which side those players represented? Perhaps it was a blessing that Jon Moss was refereeing, words I never expected to type! I noted at half-time that we had enjoyed 80% possession but had nothing to show for it.

Half-time: Arsenal 0 Brentford 0

The Editor of the Gooner had recently asked me to recall the last time I saw Arsenal play Brentford at home in the League for my Rewind column. As that was a very long time ago even I was not born! So if Arsenal could score it would be the first strike against Brentford for seventy five years. We did not have much longer to wait to celebrate it. On 48 minutes Smith Rowe took the ball on the left and cut inside showing the value of an inverted winger and threaded a right foot shot past Raya into the corner.

Arsenal 1 Brentford 0 – Smith Rowe 48

The goal had little effect on the balance of play or possession. Brentford were hard-working but limited in their ability to get at Arsenal. One ball forward to Wisser almost saw him get in and a few crosses, often from free-kicks were repelled by an Arsenal defence that looked comfortable and well-drilled. But a second goal didn’t arrive until the 79th minute when Lacazette challenged Jansson and the ball fell to Partey who timed his pass to Saka on his left exquisitely and Bukayo showed the benefit of a winger playing on his natural side by whipping a fierce shot past Raya and in off the post.

Arsenal 2 Brentford 0 – Saka 79

That felt like a hugely decisive moment, Pepe had replaced ESR (forcing the switch of Saka to the left) and he looked comfortable in possession. Nketiah replaced Lacazette and looked no more likely to score. Brentford increased their intensity but made little impression until the last minute of the three added when we became discombobulated by Ajer’s challenge for a right-wing cross and Ramsdale was unable to prevent Norgaard poking the ball home, depriving a lot of Holics of hard-earned Fantasy points (including yours truly). The assistant referee in front of me raised his flag but after a long delay Mr. Moss was able to give the West Londoners some consolation by overturning that decision.

Arsenal 2 Brentford 1 – Norgaard 90+3

There was (fortunately) little time left for Brentford to press forward and Mr. Moss duly obliged with the final whistle. We had seen Arsenal win at home against Brentford for the first time in seventy five years and well-deserved it was. On the balance of play, the chasm in quality and the number of decent chances we created we should have won by a bigger margin. But this is an Arsenal team that are not going to be free scorers until they sign a prolific striker. On a day when the Spuds showed just how valuable lethal strikers can be it is a problem we have to overcome. Fortunately both ESR and Saka showed fine finishing and will need to if we keep relying on Lacazette as our spearhead. Admirable player though he has been for us he is some way past his scoring sell-by date.

Full time: Arsenal 2 Brentford 1

I hadn’t seen live several of our players before the Burnley game and this was my first view of Partey. He is a bigger unit than I expected and I was impressed by his intelligent use of the ball and his strength. I think he has adapted to English football after a difficult settling-in period. I was most impressed by White and particularly Gabriel, more for their ability to push into midfield and play incisive passes than their defensive capabilities as they weren’t tested seriously here very often. Ramsdale produces some terrific passes that completely confuse the opposition and is a terrific communicator and Odegaard was industrious and intelligent and able to provideI subtle and unexpected passes. Even the much-maligned Cedric had a very decent game.

Maybe it was the effect of a good lunch with the very positive C100 or just the opportunity at long last to enjoy a win at the Grove, but I found today very enjoyable. Yes, we should have won very much more convincingly and yes there are at least two positions where we need a significant upgrade but something exciting is stirring in N5 and we have a real chance of a very high placing at the end of the season. Roll on Wolves on Thursday!

44 Drinks to “Saka and Emile Smith Rowe Restore the Status Quo”

  1. 1
    Cynic says:

    Oooh, it’s so tempting. Why not post first… thanks for the report, TTG, I only saw the MotD highlights. Goals were lovely, not much else to say about such a brief view of the game.

    I’m still tired of that bloody song though!

    Curling calls!

  2. 2
    bt8 says:

    Thanks for the report TTG. Glad you enjoyed it.

  3. 3
    Trev says:

    Thanks TTG !

    Appreciate the report as I missed the game completely as my daughter was raking part in her final two dance shows which occupied the whole of the afternoon and evening.

    Three vital points for us. As you say, we are unlikely to be scoring hatfuls until our striking department is improved but the two goals we did get were fine strikes and all the better for being hit by two of our own. I won’t repeat the song again as I would hate to distract Cynic while he’s curling his hair 😉

  4. 4
    TTG says:

    I completely missed the apparent armband incident where Xhaka shunned the captaincy but Xhaka should never be considered as skipper with his record and temperament . I’m more than ever convinced that with a dynamic partner to Partey rather than the pedestrian Swiss we can achieve exciting things . I think Odegaard may well emerge as a very good skipper

  5. 5
    OsakaMatt says:

    Thanks TTG, glad we won on your return! An excellent report of a game that we dominated from start to finish. Their early season points might be enough to save Brentford but they look in trouble to me. I hope they stay up at the expense of Burnley.
    We, on the other hand, have bigger spuds, hams, and er… wolves and devils to fry. Nice to see us fighting for a CL place rather than EL.

  6. 6
    Ollie says:

    Cheers TTG. Glad you had a great day. We are fortunate to have nearly all the games shown here, so a pleasant afternoon was had in a pub. But I think I fell alseep and had a nightmare about Spurs beating City with a last minute winner…

    Still, all that matters is us winning. Smith-Rowe and Saka lead the way,

  7. 7
    Bathgooner says:

    Thanks for an excellent and extraordinarily detailed eyewitness report from the ground (Bravo!) that filled the gaps for me as I missed the entire first half due to a more pressing commitment. It was reassuring to read that we dominated possession, looked good, made chances, should have been awarded at least one pen and should have been ahead at half-time.

    Watching the second half on a decent stream, I thought we were very pleasing on the eye and the interchanges involving Ødegaard, Partey, Saka and ESR in particular were extremely good but the defence had quite a few more jittery moments than I like to see. I was very relieved to see Saka score the second, only a few seconds after C100 had ‘texted’ that the crowd were getting nervous. Loss of our clean sheet was down to one of those jittery moments. Nonetheless this is another extremely important result, particularly in light of the disappointing events in the Emptyhad. We are right in the mix for fourth and this is the type of game we must win if we are to stay there.

    I am delighted to read that you enjoyed another fine lunch with the Countrymen. I hope the red wine met your expectations. There’s a very nice, good-value, South African red for every day drinking called the Wolftrap from the Boekenhoutskloof vineyard at the top of the Franschhoek valley. It’s been my ‘house red’ for a couple of years though if you want to splash out (or in!) the Chocolate Block is their premier product. I hope that we can set our own Wolf trap on Thursday.

  8. 8
    Countryman100 says:

    A black cab drew up at the curb in the wind and rain swept Holloway Road. Out stepped, regally, TTG, sage of the Gooner rewind column, a legend in his own lunchtime when he bestrode the City, our own Mr Arsenal. Scattering largesse liberally, he entered the restaurant where a glass of red wine awaited him. Pausing only to greet my son and I, that first glass never touched the sides. “God”, he said, “what a journey from the wilds of Kent. Now, let’s do this”. The lunch went on, convivially, and yes I did take advantage of my son driving to slip in a couple of grappas with the coffee at the end (purely to act as central heating you understand). We were regaled with stories of Arsenal past, dinners at Highbury House, of how good (and how hard) Frank McLintock was, and of the battles between the players and Bertie Mee.

    TTG has done a magnificent job describing the game from his privileged eyrie in Club Level. Down in the North Bank Lower things looked good. ESR changed the game with a superb goal just after half time after we had dominated a scoreless first half. Pires is mentioned as a comparator above, but the way he took his goal, opening up his body and sliding it inside the back post was, for me, pure TH14. We kept burning chances and as Bath said, we were getting a little nervous when Saka struck. Laid in with an inch perfect pass by Partey, he took one touch and then drove the ball into the net. Oh my. Those two goals will live long in the memory.

    I thought Partey, Odegaard, ESR and Saka were excellent. On we go. I am about to go on a two week winter sun holiday by the Red Sea so you guys will have to win without me. I remain highly positive.

  9. 9
    North Bank Ned says:

    A joyous report, TTG, and much valued in its detail as I lost internet connectivity after 20 minutes and have only belatedly caught up with the highlights. As others have mentioned, three points that had to be won. Three more coming up on Thursday that must be won, too.

  10. 10
    ecg says:

    Hmm. Auba had a hat trick for Barca today…

  11. 11
    ecg says:

    Turns out it was only two.

  12. 12
    ClockEndRider says:

    Excellent report, TTG. Once again the referee and VAR performed some mental gymnastics to ensure that what would have been penalties on any other occasion were not given. Well played them. Helping on the way to ensuring the upcoming World Cup will, as last time, be held without a single officiating representative of the English top level.
    Enjoy the warm weather break, C100.

  13. 13
    Up4GrabsNow! says:

    Good report TTG, thank you.

  14. 14
    bt8 says:

    Have a great holiday c100 and thanks for that lovely description of your lunch with TTG. 🍷

  15. 15
    North Bank Ned says:

    Wolves on Thursday is now a six-pointer.

    Looks like it is going to be a dog fight with the Mancs, Spammers, Wolves and the neighbours for fourth

  16. 16
    North Bank Ned says:

    Three own goals and substituted after 40 mins counts as a bad day at the office.

    https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/60457568

    Keeper didn’t have a chance with any of them.

  17. 17
    OsakaMatt says:

    Best of luck to Jack who is off to Aarhus for another try at resurrecting his career

  18. 18
    Ollie says:

    ecg @11, looks like he did after all as Pedri’s goal was given to Aubameyang after all after he deflected it in. Confirmed by La Liga’s website too.
    https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/60454179

  19. 19
    Noosa Gooner says:

    In reports from the colonies, Corporal Jenkinson, late of this parish, got himself on the Melbourne City scoresheet at the weekend for the second time since his recent move from the land of Boris.
    This doubles his total for the Arse and may offer further proof that he could be the lethal sharpshooter many Gooners now crave.
    UTA.

  20. 20
    Ollie says:

    Noosa: bring him back! 😉

  21. 21
    bathgooner says:

    Amidst widespread (and from some surprising people too) hysterical claims that missing out on 4th place would be ‘failure’, there’s a very rational analysis of our current situation and the potential hurdles to that achievement from Blogs this morning:

    Weekend thoughts + striker goals needed for top four

  22. 22
    TTG says:

    Bath
    I agree with Blogs’ assessment . In the past I’ve defended Laca who has always worked his socks off but in the last two games which I’ve reported on…and two which I saw live , Laca has lost a yard of pace ( if not more ) and is far from lethal when he gets a chance . That terrible miss against Burnley after ESR set him up is a case in point . I think we’ve done pretty well this season for a work in progress but if we could have got a top-quality striker in the summer or the last window we’d have been much better placed

  23. 23
    21st century gooner says:

    Excellent report TTG. We fully deserved this win, 2-1 totally flatters Brentford who offered next to nothing. Dominated the game from start to finish with sustained pressure throughout which is pleasing to see. It really ought to have been 3 or 4-0 but it wasn’t mainly due to the once again, dreadful officiating. That wissa handball was particularly blatant but as far as I’m aware it wasn’t checked. So what actually is clear and obvious then? They checked the Brentford goal for about a minute but not ours? The refs didn’t cost us this time but on another day they would’ve done like they did against Everton, united and city. I’m sure there’s more that I’ve forgotten as well. But 2 wins in a row since the winter break was just what we needed after our mythical poor form. Just the 19 points from the last 24 available. How did we cope with this dreadful relegation form? Meanwhile congratulations to the spuds who won the prestigious “we did the double over the champions” trophy. I hear they stuck it in between the “we finished third in a two horse race” and the “Arsenal postponed the NLD” trophies in their brimming trophy cabinet. I didn’t make this game due to being back at university and probably won’t make a game for a few weeks but it’s enjoyable watching Arsenal thrive from afar nonetheless. Onto wolves on Thursday. Hopefully we don’t offend anyone by celebrating too much this time.

  24. 24
    North Bank Ned says:

    TTG@22: level-headed assessment by Blogs. As per above, it is going to be a dog-fight from here on in and with 15 games to go, it is way too early to say anyone is favourite for fourth. Every point will count, especially against the other contenders. I wouldn’t be surprised if two of the positions between fourth and eighth are settled by goal difference. We need one of our goalscorers to have a hot streak.

  25. 25
    Doctor Faustus says:

    Marvelous report TTG!

    Agree with everyone here with the concerns about lack of goals from our central striker. While Martinelli may not give as much structure in the middle as Laca does — but I think in that case Martin moving a bit more infield away from the typical half-spaces on the right would help — but his pace and relentless pressing, as well as crisp finishing in and around the box, may give us more scoring options. There have been quite a few counter attacks where our lack of pace down the middle didn’t allow us to fully benefit from the quick turnover we enforced out of the opposition attack. This can be an option in certain matches or match situations.

    Cedric has been rather good in the last two matches, but I think Tomi returning would allow Martin more freedom to stay up and that would create better quality chances too.

  26. 26
    Countryman100 says:

    Nice feisty drink 21stCG.

  27. 27
    Cynic says:

    Best of luck to Jack who is off to Aarhus

    In the middle of our street.

    (sorry)

  28. 28
    ecg says:

    That’s madness, Cynic.

  29. 29
    Silly Second Yella says:

    madness is playing three games in seven days

    leicesterliverpoolvilla

  30. 30
    TTG says:

    Great drink 21CG . I’m becoming a paranoid conspiracy theorist but just because we are paranoid it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get us .😀

  31. 31
    OsakaMatt says:

    MA talking up the potential of ESR as a no 9.
    I’d still go with Laca for the Wolves game and try Martinelli first
    if we’re to change it round.

  32. 32
    North Bank Ned says:

    Arteta going full Pep if he wants to play ESR as a 9, OM.

  33. 33
    OsakaMatt says:

    😀 yes it would be Ned. I wouldn’t say it can’t work but it would be asking
    an awful lot of ESR to throw him in there at this stage.
    Laca must be feeling the pressure now but he’s an experienced pro and
    hopefully will leave no defender unturned in his quest to find a goal
    against Wolves.

  34. 34
    TTG says:

    The penalty of a lovely day out in London may well have been Covid . I tested positive this morning but so far have only a runny nose and slightly sore throat . Another thing the Queen and I have in common

  35. 35
    Bathgooner says:

    Sorry to hear that TTG. Get well soon!

  36. 36
    OsakaMatt says:

    Good luck TTG! Hope you’ll be fighting fit soon

  37. 37
    ClockEndRider says:

    Hope you feel better soon, TTG.

  38. 38
    North Bank Ned says:

    Hope you are quickly and safely over it, TTG. I hesitate to ask what else you have in common with the Queen…

  39. 39
    bt8 says:

    What everybody else said. Get well soon, TTG.

  40. 40
    Trev says:

    Yes, all the best TTG – all the Omicron cases I have heard of for vaccinated people have been very mild. 🤞🏻

  41. 41
    scruzgooner says:

    concerned for you, ttg, and mrs. ttg. your instincts all these months have been sound. sorry you’re paying the price for venturing out again. fingers crossed for you and her!

  42. 42
    Countryman100 says:

    Unlucky TTG. I seem to have dodged the bullet so far

  43. 43
    Ollie says:

    GWS TTG.

  44. 44
    Bathgooner says:

    >>>>>>>