Arsenal beat Brentford to stay top in EPL
WALKING OFF the field at Brentford’s small stadium in west London had a very different feel for Arsenal this time around.
A straight-forward 3-0 win at the 17,000-seat Gtech Community Stadium yesterday retained Arsenal’s spot atop the English Premier League table and made it six victories (18 points) in seven games for Mikel Arteta’s side.
Quite a contrast from a year ago, when Arsenal opened the season with a humbling 2-0 defeat at Brentford – who were playing their first topflight game in 74 years – and went on to lose the next two games, as well, for their worst start to a campaign in 67 years.
“A lot of people described that day as embarrassing, but I looked at it as a character-building day,” Arteta said, “You have to learn from those moments and then days like today happen. We are enjoying our football.”
And there’s plenty to enjoy, especially from the team’s newcomers.
Defender William Saliba – who spent the last three seasons out on loan – underlined his status as the team’s new fan favourite with his second goal of the season, while summer signings Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira also scored.
Everton finally has something to enjoy as well, a first win of the campaign.
Frank Lampard’s team beat fellow strugglers West Ham 1-0 at home in a game with few clear-cut chances for either team. Only two games were played yesterday as Chelsea-liverpool and Manchester United-leeds were both postponed due to limited police resources ahead of the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II today.
All Premier League games this weekend paid tribute to the Queen with a minute’s silence before kickoff followed by a rendition of the national anthem. There was also a minute’s applause after 70 minutes at each game in celebration of the Queen’s 70-year reign.
At Brentford, Saliba headed in a corner in the 17th minute before Jesus scored his fourth goal of the campaign with another header around halfway through the first half. Vieira then marked his first league start by scoring with a longrange effort early in the second.
Vieira started in place of injured playmaker Martin Odegaard and made a strong claim for getting more playing time after spending much of the season on the bench so far.
“We know his talent and why we signed him and what he can bring to the team,” Arteta said, “He is a creative player, he needs to play with his instinct and we need to create as many scenarios as possible for him.”
Arteta even had the luxury of sending on 15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri for the last few minutes, making him the youngest player ever to appear in a Premier League game.
Arsenal now head into the international break one point ahead of defending champions Manchester City and Tottenham. Their next game will be a better gauge of the team’s title credentials, as Arsenal host Tottenham in the north London derby on October 1.