Brentford claimed a gritty 1-1 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, their first point against a top-three Premier League team this season and a surge to 11th in the table.
Mikel Arteta had one eye on his team’s upcoming UEFA Champions League fixture against Real Madrid, and Arsenal started slowly after the manager rotated his squad. The Gunners thought they had scored an early opener through Kieran Tierney, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside, and Ethan Nwaneri and Gabriel Martinelli had efforts of their own repelled in the first 45 minutes.
Brentford looked good defensively, and occasionally dangerous going forward, Kristoffer Ajer forcing David Raya into a save in the 22nd minute. Neither team mustered a goal in the first half, but Arsenal struck on the hour when a vicious counter-attack saw Declan Rice storm forward, and lay off to Thomas Partey to stroke the ball home first time.
But the Bees showed character and equalised in the 74th minute. Arsenal could not clear a corner and Ajer headed Michael Kayode’s delivery back across goal for Yoane Wissa to put in a clever finish past Raya.
Bukayo Saka almost snatched a late winner when his curling effort went narrowly wide, leaving Arsenal with a point to take into their European clash in Madrid.
