Arsenal 1-1 Brentford
by Layth Yousif
at Ashburton Grove

THOMAS PARTEY'S opener was cancelled out by Yoane Wissa’s leveller to seal a point each in a low-key London derby in front of 60,184 fans at Ashburton Grove on Saturday evening. 

The insipid draw meant Champions-elect Liverpool need only nine points from seven games to wrap up the title, while the draw also ensured the domestically lacklustre Gunners have now won just two of their past seven Premier League games, taking 10 points from a possible 21.

Yet, with the second leg of the momentous Champions League quarter-final to come against Real Madrid, it was understandable that Mikel Arteta made five changes to face the Bees, with the trip to Spain beckoning.

The Gunners boss drafted in Kieran Tierney, Jorginho, Alex Zinchenko, Ethan Nwaneri and Leandro Trossard, while Ben White missed out after picking up a knock in training. Meaning Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber, Mikel Merino and Myles Lewis-Skelly all started on the bench.

In an uneventful opening, David Raya saved well from Kristoffer Ajer on 22 minutes.

Shortly afterwards, the semi-automated offside widget decided in its wisdom to adjudge Tierney marginally offside, to deny the Gunners an opening goal just before the half hour.

As we approached the half-time interval, William Saliba, already catching the eye when driving forward powerfully, played a deft ball through to Gabi Martinelli in the box. The flat trajectory fooling the obdurate Bees back line, with Ajer’s praiseworthy last-gasp block surely denying the Gunners’ Brazilian attacker a goal.

Trossard forced a save from Flekken just before the break, after working space on the edge of the area.

With the atmosphere decidedly flat after the heroics against Real Madrid, fears started to rise that Frank’s side might grab a point, or more.

However, with Raya showing excellent handling to claim a Bees corner, before sending the Gunners on a sweeping move forward powered by the marauding Rice, who then played in Partey who had raced from his own box, as the Ghanian slotted past Flekken to put the home side 1-0 ahead - much to the delight of the home support.

Yet, following a flurry of substitutions with a nod to the blockbuster second leg in Madrid next week, Arsenal took their eye off the ball, when allowing Yissa to level with 16 minutes left from Nathan Collins.

The travelling fans celebrated enthusiastically, with the Bees moving to 11th in the table, leapfrogging London rivals Crystal Palace, to make it a creditable five seasons in the top flight for such an unassuming club, albeit one with such strong foundations under the impressive Frank, and his hard-working squad. 

And that was that after an instantly forgettable match ahead of the season defining visit to the Bernabeu next week.