Bees are buzzing
Canos scores first goal of season as Brentford shoot down Arsenal
Many indignities have befallen the once formidable institution of Arsenal in the years of their decline, but in this defeat on the first day of the season, when crowds were back again and hope abounded, what may concern Mikel Arteta was how inevitable it all felt.
Brentford landed in the Premier League with a spring in their step and nothing to lose in front of a delighted full house of 16,479 in their tidy new stadium by the Chiswick flyover. What may have surprised them following a brief absence from the top flight of 74 years was that there was scarcely a moment of this summer evening when it did not feel like it was going their way. At the end Thomas Frank and his players embarked on an impromptu lap of honour – and it certainly felt like the right thing to do – although they will have had tougher examinations in the Championship last season.
It was a marvellous night for the ebullient Frank and his well-drilled Brentford side sourced from all over the world by this club’s innovative recruitment. It was Spanish midfielder Sergi Canos who scored the first, another Brentford find who was not quite good enough for Liverpool or even Norwich City, but was perfect for this team and this occasion. His goal after 22 minutes just seemed to place in Arsenal minds the seed of what was coming, and Christian Norgaard’s second for Brentford in the second half confirmed those fears.
It had been an inauspicious start to the day for Arteta, his captain and biggest name Pierre-emerick Aubameyang withdrawn from action along with the striker’s most likely deputy, Alexandre Lacazette. There was only the vaguest explanation of their condition – “unwell” was Arsenal’s verdict. For much of the game one could apply a much more worrying diagnosis to many elements of this Arteta team.
It included two young men making their Premier League debuts, striker Folarin Balogun, 20, and the new signing from Anderlecht, midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga, 21. Other than that, not much had changed for Arteta: Granit Xhaka was still captain, Bernd Leno was still uncertain, Gabriel Martinelli still seemed to be ignoring orders. In the centre of defence, £50 million new signing Ben White got his first taste of playing in an Arsenal side lacking control and often consumed by fear.
Arteta had been unfortunate with the Aubameyang and Lacazette withdrawals, but there was none of the intensity of Brentford’s team, who seemed to be playing for their lives. Instead this strange Arsenal side always felt like they were just waiting to be beaten.
Nowhere more so than with the second goal, which originated from a long throw that none of Arteta’s defenders took responsibility to clear. As the home fans reminded them on a gloriously noisy first night of 2021-22, Brentford were once described as “just a bus stop in Hounslow” – a slight they have nobly decided to own. When Arsenal reached the Champions League final in 2006, perhaps the peak of Wengerism, this particular bus stop was celebrating a third-place finish in League One.
What makes it so difficult for Arteta is that this was intended to be the relaunch after a second half of last season in which results improved considerably. Yet it will take a long time to forget this opening-night defeat by Brentford, who were last in the top flight in 1947, since when better Arsenal teams than this one have won the club eight league championships.
Brentford are not shy to go long to their powerful centre-forward Ivan Toney, and in the periods when they apply pressure they do so with great effectiveness. The strike from Canos was the first half ’s moment of true quality, the ball pushed back into the box twice – the second time after Calum Chambers’ desperate clearance. Yet there were other occasions when a goal might have come, especially when Bryan Mbeumo swept past White and the unfailingly averor age Pablo Mari. Even a Premier League rookie could sense the opportunities. Canos cut in from the left on his right foot and beat Leno with another shot that the German might have saved.
Balogun did not have a sight of goal, offered no outlet and was replaced before the hour. The new man was Bukayo Saka, applauded by all sides of the stadium, although unfortunately for Arteta not technically a conventional striker.
Lokonga was in for the injured Thomas Partey. He was intended to be developed for the future, but the future comes fast at Arsenal.
After the game he was even shouldering the burden of the live television interviews in the absence of much more experienced teammates.
Arsenal’s chief attacking force was Emile Smith Rowe, pirouetting away from Norgaard after the break and then losing his nerve when the goal loomed.
The second goal, from the long throw of substitute Mads Sorensen, was a familiar Arsenal catastrophe.
Pontus Jansson blocked off Leno, Mari missed the header and when the ball bounced, the only man near enough to challenge Norgaard was his team-mate Mbeumo. Before the end Leno would wave at another corner and almost brush it into his own goal. At the other end David Raya, whom Arsenal once wanted to sign, saved superbly from Nicolas Pepe. Brentford had been better in all departments.
Brentford (3-5-2) Raya 8; Ajer 7 (Sorensen 73), Jansson 7, Pinnock 8; Canos 8, Onyeka 7 (Bidstrup 80), Norgaard 8, Janelt 8, Henry 7; Mbeumo 8 (Forss 86), Toney 7. Subs Gunnarsson (g), Goode, Wissa, Ghoddos, Dervisoglu, Rasmussen.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Leno 4; Chambers 5, Mari 4, White 6, Tierney 6 (Tavares 81); Lokonga 6, Xhaka 5; Pepe 5, Smith Rowe 6, Martinelli 4 (Nelson 71); Balogun 4 (Saka 59). Subs Hein (g), Bellerin, Maitland-niles, Holding, Soares, Elneny.
Referee Michael Oliver (Northumberland).