A great hard-fought win by Arsenal’s second string side away at Brentford earns us a tie at West Ham next

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 04: Reiss Nelson of Arsenal celebrates at full time after scoring the winning goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and AFC Bournemouth at Emirates Stadium on March 04, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

A hard-fought win over Brentford

Arsenal travelled down to Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford on Wednesday to compete in the third round of the Carabao Cup. After such a quick turn around from the London Derby, Arsenal fans would have been expecting wholesale changes, and Arteta did just that, making eight changes from our previous starting line up against Tottenham, with just Gabriel, Ben White and Eddie Nketiah picked to start again.

With injuries piling up, Arteta was going to have to think outside the box and this was the perfect time to give some of the younger lads some minutes. We got to see Charles Sagoe Jr make his debut in red and white and Emile Smith Rowe was seen back in the line-up, making his 100th appearance for the club, both had impressive games and held their own, validating Arteta’s choice to bring them in.

The game started off well, with Arsenal full of energy and pressing hard. It didn’t take long for us to go in front, when Nketiah pounced on a mistake by the Brentford backline and put the ball on a plate for Reiss Nelson to slot into the back of the Brentford net, putting Arsenal 1-0 up after just 8 minutes. Arsenal looked to be dominating possession and retaining the ball well.

In the first half, Brentford almost looked happy to just sit back and let Arsenal have possession, waiting for us to make a mistake that just didn’t happen. Arsenal were passing the ball round quickly, spreading play wide and trying to break through the Brentford defence again, but Brentford stayed strong, walking into the tunnel at halftime 1-0.

Brentford came out in the second half firing, with a lot of energy, pushing and pressing us back into our own half. We came under some quick-fire shots but luckily Ramsdale managed to keep the ball out of the back of his net, making some incredible saves to keep Arsenal in front. Brentford fought hard to get back in the game and Arsenal fought hard to keep in the win.

A huge change in performance from the first to the second half, Brentford really brought the game to us in the dying stages, but our defence seemed unbreakable. Walking away with the win and into round 4 of the Carabao Cup, where we will face off against our new blockbuster signing, Declan Rice’s old side, West Ham.

A hard-fought win for the lads away from home, with a lot of injuries and a lot of changes made, Arsenal held their composure throughout the game, it wasn’t pretty, but we got the win and more importantly, some needed minutes into rotated legs.

What’s your thoughts Gooners?

Daisy Mae

Tags Brentford v Arsenal

12 Comments

  1. Jorginho yesterday

    7 tackles
    3 interceptions
    3 clearances
    2 key passes
    90% passing

    I thought he was very good yesterday after Sundays horrorshow.

  2. Saw the match. The lads were a bit relaxed, unlike the nervous showdown against Totties. If the big boys perform as similar against Bournemouth, I’m confident we can win.

  3. It wasn’t an easy win, but they did the job. I’m glad to see MA playing Nelson and ESR, as we need them both ready.

    Let’s go after all the titles this season!

  4. Smith Rowe man of the match, whilst Havertz was the worst according to experts…

    Will Arteta STILL choose Havertz before ESR? Tahen he’ll loose all my respect.

    Sell Havertz in January and realize it was a terrible purchase. Short loss of profit will give long term win. Sell also Nketiah. Buy Toney and another strong midfielder.

    Done

    1. I wont say Havertz was the worst. On the contrary from whatever amount of time I watched the match, I could say he was good. ESR was slightly rusty, understandable but nowhere near man of the match level.

  5. Wouldn’t disagree with ESR starting ahead of
    KH at the moment but saying that didn’t think he pulled up any trees last night but wasn’t terrible
    Definitely lacks confidence but once he hits the net he will.come good. Its going to be a long season and we will need all our players in the squad.
    I personally wouldn’t have paid the 63m as we have players who could already do his job but we are where we are and he plays for us so I will show him the love as I will for all the players that pull on our kit
    As for winning the this Cup…Yes please plus the other 3 to go with it
    Onwards and upwards

    1. I don’t this the phrase, “He’ll come good” I keep hearing makes any sense. Kai has 3 years Epl experience where he had always been mediocre. I don’t know why MA thinks he can make him a PL star. Time will tell. I think the earlier we cut our loss and move him on, the better for us. He’s our highest earner for crying out loud. There’s no excuses for him. It’s totally unfair to all the lads putting better efforts if he is consistency picked ahead of them.

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