LONDON :Arsenal showed they can cope without the injured Bukayo Saka as they began the year in style by recovering from an early sucker-punch to beat Brentford 3-1 away and move back into second place in the Premier League on Wednesday.
Forward Saka, arguably Arsenal’s most influential player this season, has been ruled out for at least two months after hamstring surgery, dealing a blow to the club’s title hopes.
A visit to a Brentford side who have been dominant at home this season felt like a must-win game for Arsenal but things began badly as Bryan Mbeumo gave the hosts a 13th minute lead with the home side’s first attack.
Arsenal did not panic, though, and Gabriel Jesus continued his recent form to equalise before halftime with a diving header.
Mikel Arteta’s side came out firing in the second half and Mikel Merino put them ahead five minutes after the restart after Brentford failed to deal with a corner.
Three minutes later Gabriel Martinelli produced a clinical volleyed finish to put Arsenal in control.
The victory lifted Arsenal above Chelsea and Nottingham Forest with 39 points from 19 games with leaders Liverpool on 45 from 18. Injury-hit Brentford’s second home defeat of the season left them in 12th spot with 24 points from 19 games.
Defeat would have left Arsenal nine points behind Liverpool, who also have a game in hand, but the way they reacted to going behind suggests they can still be a factor in the title race.
“To come here and play the way we played is amazing. Of course, the most important thing is the three points and we did it, but then the most important thing was how we reacted and we did it,” Jesus, who has scored six goals in his last four games for Arsenal in all competitions, as many as in his previous 48 games for the club, told TNT.
Arsenal did not lose a London derby in 2024 and have started off in similar fashion.
They were caught cold, though, when Brentford burst forward in the 13th minute and Mbeumo was given too much space to cut in from the right and fire a shot past David Raya.
Raya was almost left red-faced soon after when he allowed a Mbeumo shot to burst through his gloves but he managed to race back and claw the ball off the line.
It proved a pivotal moment as less than a minute later Brentford were guilty of failing to clear the ball and it eventually arrived for Thomas Partey to fire a shot that was parried by Mark Flekken and Jesus dived to head in the rebound.
Arsenal’s efficiency from set-pieces was evident again early in the second half when a corner caused chaos in the area and Merino was able to fire home a loose ball.
Martinelli then gave the visitors breathing space with a superb finish.
