Arsenal (1) 2 Brentford (1) 1
Premier League
Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU
Saturday, 9th March 2024. Kick-off time: 5.30pm
(4-3-3) Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Jakob Kiwior; Martin Ødegaard (c), Declan Rice, (Jorge Luiz Frello Filho) Jorginho; Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard.
Substitutes: Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus, Emile Smith-Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Cédric Soares, Fábio Vieira, Reiss Nelson, Karl Hein, Oleksandr Zinchenko.
Scorers: Declan Rice (19 mins), Kai Havertz (85 mins)
Yellow Cards: Gabriel, Kai Havertz
Arsenal Possession Percentage: 72%
Referee: Rob Jones
Assistant Referees: James Mainwaring, Nick Hopton
Fourth Official: Darren England
VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Paul Tierney; AVAR Steve Meredith
Attendance: 60,331
Of course, our first choice goalkeeper David Raya is ineligible to face his parent club, so Aaron Ramsdale will be between the sticks this afternoon, whilst Takehiro Tomiyasu is likely to remain out of action due to injury today, unfortunately. However, the good news is that Mikel Arteta is confident that Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli will be fit to play against the Bees today, who have not beaten us at home since 15th April 1938, but that was at The Old Place across the road; of course, that was the season in which we won the old First Division Championship for the fifth time in eight years, the last occasion before the Second World War. Could this be an omen of a season to remember for us now, we wonder?
The Bees kicked off proceedings in this electric atmosphere and although they came at us straight from the off, we soaked up their pressure excellently. An early corner from Declan Rice found the head of Jakob Kiwior, whose header went narrowly past the far post, and shortly afterwards Leandro Trossard was brought down from behind by Frank Onyeka, who received the first yellow card of the afternoon for his trouble. We started to settle down and gain control of the match early on by keeping the ball in Brentford’s half, who were struggling to get out, which was impressive to see. However, when they did break out, Gabriel (who received a yellow card) brought Yoane Wissa down just outside our penalty area, and the resulting free kick from Keane Lewis-Potter went well wide of Aaron Ramsdale’s goal, which was a blessing. Following an Ivan Toney header on goal following a Brentford corner, our goalkeeper threw an amazing ball some forty yards out that went to the feet of Leandro Trossard, who somehow managed to get the ball to Kai Havertz, who had his shot blocked. Just after we had a penalty appeal turned down by Rob Jones (and VAR), a brilliant cross from the right wing by Bukayo Saka found the head of Declan Rice, who made no mistake with his head. Despite a couple of chances for Brentford, we continued our pressure on the visitors. We almost grabbed a second goal when a pass from Jorginho found Kai Havertz inside the penalty area but it was just about cleared by defender Mathias Jorgensen. We were in complete control, but we just could not score a second goal, not matter what we did. Just after Kai Havertz blasted yet another chance over the crossbar, he was booked after an aerial challenge with Kristoffer Ajer which was rash by Rob Jones to say the least. During injury time, when literally out of nowhere, Brentford were back on level terms as Aaron Ramsdale hesitated after a simple back-pass and Yoane Wissa was close on hand in to score a messy goal. Everyone in the ground was stunned, and as we went into the break honours even, nobody can actually believe what they have just seen.
We kicked off the second half, and almost immediately we won a throw-in deep inside Brentford’s half. The move ended with captain Martin Ødegaard lashing it high and wide. We turned up the pressure on the visitors and were trying desperately to score a second goal. Again, out of the blue, Ivan Toney hit a cheeky ball from about thirty yards, which was acrobatically saved by Aaron Ramsdale, thankfully. We had a surefire penalty appeal denied by both VAR and the referee when Mads Roerslev clearly had his arms all around Leandro Trossard, and then Kai Havertz also should have had a penalty decision go his way after Nathan Collins challenged him and he went to the ground. Unbelievable! Tempers were getting frayed out there as our frustration was there for all to see as we were doing everything but scoring today. With twenty minutes of the game remaining, Jorginho was replaced by Gabriel Jesus in an attempt to grab a second goal. Our hearts were in our mouths when a cross by Kristoffer Ajer found Nathan Collins unmarked inside our penalty area and his goal-bound header was somehow kept out by our athletic goalkeeper, miraculously. A twenty-five yard shot from Declan Rice bounced off the crossbar with goalie Mark Flekken just standing and watching the flight of the ball, simply amazed that it did not hit the back of the net, just like everyone else did in the stadium. Leandro Trossard and Jakob Kiwior were replaced by Reiss Nelson and Oleksandr Zinchenko with about ten minutes of the game remaining, and still we kept coming forward, desperately trying to find a way through this Brentford defence. With just five minutes of the game remaining, our captain slotted the ball to Ben White on the right wing, who crossed it for Kai Havertz to head the ball into the net. At last! In the seven minutes of injury time, we had yet another surefire penalty appeal turned down after a VAR inquiry, and after Thomas Partey replaced Martin Ødegaard (who passed the captain’s armband to Gabriel Jesus), game management became the order of the day, and as referee Rob Jones blew the whistle signalling the end of the match, there was quite a few relieved faces in the stadium tonight.
This hard won, nail-biting victory propelled us to the top of the Premiership this evening, and well deserved it was too. Despite Aaron Ramsdale’s embarrassing faux pasat the end of the first half, he redeemed himself, showed real character and put in a great second half performance, and make no mistake about it, this was a massive win for us at the Emirates. We worked very hard, ground down the opposition, kept going and eventually the winning goal came; we earned the right to win the match, and despite losing our rhythm once or twice, we got the three points. Momentum is a wonderful thing! Well done, chaps!
Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Porto at the Emirates on Tuesday, 12th March at 8.00pm (Champions League). Be there, if you can. Victoria Concordia Crescit.
Steve
Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 
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