Thank you very much for joining me.
Here is Ben Bloom’s report from the Emirates.
Kai Havertz: “A massive win for us. We were so desperate to get these three points, you could see that in the second half. We didn’t play our best in the first half.
“It is always nice to have three points in the bag. We try to focus on ourselves, win our games because we cannot influence what others do.
“It was not nice in the dressing room at half time after conceding so close to the whistle. We talked between us and were desperate to turn it around. We showed a good mentality from the first seconds of the second half.
“I am happy to be on the pitch. I am not a player who can only play in one position. It suits me quite well. The last couple of games I have played as a false nine. I love playing in this team.”
It might have been a tough 100 minutes or so for Arsenal but to win in that fashion will do great things for morale. The Emirates looked to be bouncing.
Ramsdale is getting plenty of hugs and has a big smile on his face. What a rollercoaster of a day for him.
Arteta is punching the air in front of the fans. The celebration police will be all over this.
Full time: Arsenal 2-1 Brentford
Arsenal thoroughly merited the three points to put them top of the table but they had to work extremely hard to break down Brentford in the second half. Over to you, Liverpool and Manchester City.
Updated
90+5 mins: Partey is on for Arsenal; Odegaard departs. Arsenal shutting up shop. Now it is Arsenal doing the timewasting, not that you can blame them.
90+4 mins: Brentford do not seem to have much left to give.
Toney and Gabriel do some grappling and then square up to one another.
90+2 mins: Odegaard chips a free kick into the box but it goes over everyone. Gabriel goes down in the box and sprints to the referee to demand a penalty. VAR has a look. There does not look like there is much in it for me. There is a little grab of the shirt but I can’t see this being overturned but then VAR is ludicrous. They are taking their time, however. Check complete: no penalty.
90 mins: Frank sends on Ghoddos and Damsgaard.
Seven minutes added on.
89 mins: Arsenal just need to keep the ball here. It sounds rather lively in north London. The Gunners are heading to the top of the table. We are set for an extra seven minutes of injury time.
88 mins: Ramsdale has got a bit of colour back in his cheeks after that goal. I suspect if the ball comes to him in the final few minutes he will be whacking it clear. The goalkeeper comes to claim a cross, earning a big cheer from the home fans.
87 mins: Havertz is given too much space on the edge of the six-yard box. I think the Brentford defence might be absolutely knackered, which might explain the lapse in concentration. Arteta is going wild on the touchline.
GOAL! Arsenal 2-1 Brentford (Havertz, 86)
The Emirates erupts as Havertz heads home a precise White cross.
85 mins: Brentford are trying every trick in the book to run down a few seconds. I suspect we will get a decent whack of injury-time, too.
84 mins: Some nice link-up play between Jesus and Havertz looks like it will create an opening but Brentford stand firm. The ball ends up with White on the right but his cross drifts out for a corner. The Arsenal fans are looking nervous.
Collins is down for some reason. Looks like an ankle issue.
82 mins: Arteta is starting to get a little frustrated with Brentford’s desire to waste time but he can’t expect any different. Jorgensen takes a solid 20 seconds to take two separate throw-ins under the Arsenal manager’s nose.
Jorgensen is now face down in the turf after running into Havertz. Arsenal, however, get the free-kick.
80 mins: Zinchenko and Nelson on for Arsenal; Trossard and Kiwior depart.
78 mins: Saka forces Ajer to turn his cross behind. Flekken took a smack in the ribs when punching clear and looks uncomfortable. Saka sends in the corner to the front post but Collins is there to head clear.
Brentford bring on Maupay and Yarmoliuk. Goalscorer Wissa and Onyeka are the men to make way.
76 mins: Arsenal win a free-kick on the right flank in a dangerous position. Odegaard goes over to take it. Flekken comes to punch clear and does it well.
74 mins: Rice hits the post. Odegaard lays the ball into his teammate’s path 30 yards from goal. It looks like the first-time shot is heading into the top corner but it bounces out off the woodwork.
Despite Arsenal’s dominance in this half, Ramsdale has made the two best saves since the break.
“Is Arsenal so poor it could not afford to buy Raya?” asks Ian Copestake. “Would have made quite a difference today.”
I suspect FFP would be involved here.
72 mins: WHAT A SAVE! A ball is lifted into the box and Collins flicks towards goal, forcing Ramsdale to tip it over the bar.
Brentford go for a long throw which is cleared by Rice but comes back into the box from Ajer, not that it matters as Ramsdale claims.
Updated
70 mins: Jesus is on for Jorginho, who I think has had a very decent game. An attacking sub.
69 mins: Jesus has his top off. I am really pleased Arteta reads this blog.
Trossard has theball on the left and lays it back to Kiwior but his cross goes over everyone, forcing Lewis-Potter to kick it out for a throw.
67 mins: Arsenal have been to Mountain Warehouse and procured what is needed to camp out in the Brentford defensive third for the final 20 odd minutes.
The Gunners attack while Brentford defender Jorgensen is down injured. They make it into the box thanks to a Kiwior cross that reaches Trossard but his volley is weak.
65 mins: Havertz chucks himself down in the box in a desperate attempt to earn a penalty but it looks a dive and it is.
I would think Jesus for Havertz would be a logical change soon. But who knows?
63 mins: Odegaard whips in a cross from a central position, which Flekken punches clear when catching seems a better option. Arsenal want a penalty for a pull from Roerslev on Trossard. VAR has a look and agrees with Jones on this one.
Updated
61 mins: It is all Arsenal now. They have another corner after Flekken is forced to push a cross behind. The latest corner bounces around in the box until Rice whacks towards goal, only to see his effort blocked.
Brentford might want to slow things down here. Arsenal are all over them.
59 mins: Kiwior drives in a cross, Collins makes an attempt to clear it, inadvertently sending the ball behind. Rice whips in the corner but it goes out for another after Flekken flaps the ball on. Gabriel is trying to claim he merits a penalty for something or other but that is utter nonsense.
Saka takes the next corner to the near post where Gabriel leaps and heads towards goal but Janelt blocks on the line and Flekken grabs hold.
Isaiah Anthony emails: “Arsenal are playing beautiful football but I think they need to have two good keepers because Ramsdale is not the kind of a keeper that Arsenal can rely on. You can’t concede that cheap, this is a race.”
57 mins: Saka does superbly to get to the byline and flashes a cross in front of goal but no one can get a touch. This game has become quite fun.
55 mins: Arsenal are mainly just winning corners at the moment. Saka whips in another but Ajer heads away and Brentford are awarded a free-kick after Gabriel lands on the defender’s foot. Brentford will take their time over this.
Lordy! Toney runs onto a pass just inside the Arsenal half and whacks the ball first time from around 45 yards. It looks like it is going over Ramsdale but he reacts well to backtrack and push behind. If that went in, the lad might have considered retiring.
53 mins: Arsenal win a corner on the left. Rice is straight over to take it. It goes to the near post and Brentford clear, only to see it come straight back. Gabriel wins Arsenal another corner and then proceeds to encourage the crowd to make some noise.
Referee Jones stops the corner coming in to discuss the goings on in the box after White gives Janelt a push.
51 mins: Toney knocks a header down to Wissa, he gets the ball out of his feet and takes aim but Gabriel deflects it behind for a corner. I would whip this on top of Ramsdale … there are a lot of Brentford players around him. Ramsdale comes but flaps at the ball. Gabriel heads to Janelt on the edge but his shot is a miscue.
49 mins: Arsenal work things well on the edge of the box but Brentford are organised, forcing Saka to take a snapshot from 20 yards which goes well wide and over.
Ramsdale gets his first touch of the half, whacking the ball long.
47 mins: You would have to think Arsenal’s players will be desperate to get their mate out of a hole by bagging a few goals in this half. Odegaard has an early attempt from distance but it does not threaten.
Jones Manoah emails: “Watching from Nairobi and unless Arsenal turn it around in the next 45 minutes, I can see the ‘bottlers’ headlines literally writing themselves.”
I suspect the headlines will all include the word ‘Ramsdale’ if this is the case.
Second half
Here we go again!
Ramsdale is back for the second half. He needs to shut out the bad thoughts in his head and focus on what is to come.
Danny Whybrow says: “Yes, Arsenal should be out of sight, but if you carry a likeable but ultimately flawed ( I’m being kind) sportsman (again…)like Kai Havertz, in tight games you will suffer. Mikel was right to replace Ramsdale, when will he see the error up the other end? We will win nothing with him. Everyone says he’s an asset. I’m beginning to feel like the unfortunate protagonist in a 70’s conspiracy theory film.”
Andy ‘not that one’ Flintoff says: “Ramsdale just seemed to have no awareness of what Wissa was trying to do there. Just roll the studs over the ball to flick it behind you and Wissa is out of the game and the danger is passed. Most outfielders would have realised this.”
I suspect we will Brentford shoot from distance within the opening two minutes of the second half to test Ramsdale.
Justin Kavanagh emails: “Here’s a TV innovation to brighten up our “matchdays”: Just as outstanding players are bathed in that little bubble of sunshine to highlight their brilliance, let’s have a darkened bubble with a cartoon raincloud above a player who has just made a howler. Like, say, a goalkeeper trying to reclaim his first-team place who dithers and then diverts the ball into his own net via a deflected clearance. Call it the lowlight.”
It’s an option …
Jeff Sax emails: “At the beginning of the season I said arsenal have no chance of winning the PL after they acquired Rice and Havertz... Nothing has changed. Who is responsible at arsenal for recruitment?!?!”
Edu. I think Arsenal have done pretty well.
My lord.
Brentford are LEVEL! ⚖️
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 9, 2024
A GIFT from Ramsdale and Wissa gladly accepts! 🎁 pic.twitter.com/mqQxUtlKW8
Ramsdale looks very annoyed with himself as he walks off. His teammates offer support.
Half time: Arsenal 1-1 Brentford
What a ludicrous end to the half. Arsenal should be out of sight but here we are. A truly silly error from Ramsdale.
Updated
45+5 mins: Ramsdale needlessly take his time before trying to clear the ball, allowing Wissa to catch him and get an undeserved equaliser. Ramsdale will feel awful.
GOAL: Arsenal 1-1 Brentford (Wissa, 45+4)
WHAT A HORRIFIC ERROR FROM RAMSDALE. He kicks the ball from his goalline onto Wissa and it ends up in the net.
Updated
45+2 mins: Wissa goes down after a clash with Saliba. He seems fine.
Havartz is booked for catching Ajer in the face with an arm.
Kári Tulinius emails: “I liked hearing commentators saying the name of the player who was on the ball, and that’s what I miss most from modern coverage. I realise it was a relic of when TVs were black and white and had the resolution of a turn-of-the-century Nokia phone, but it was a soothing, meditative metronome for the flow of the game.”
45 mins: Three minutes added.
44 mins: Gabriel drives Arsenal up the pitch and eventually passes the ball to Trossard who does well to whip a cross to the back post but Havertz’s volley is poorly executed and goes well over.
42 mins: Trossard takes aim from 30 yards but his shot does not have enough pace or power to trouble Flekken, who drops on the ball.
Dean Potter emails: “Regrettable TV innovation: the live-action player portrait, where instead of a simple headshot, players are compelled to pump their fists; cross their arms and look menacing; or throw some shapes in a vaguely gang/nightclub style. These are presumably recorded in early August. “Give us some excitement, babe!” the TV producer cajoles. “Think of your new Bentley lease!””
40 mins: Toney has barely had a kick. He can’t convince teams to buy him when he doesn’t touch the ball.
38 mins: This is all very easy for Arsenal. Brentford can’t lay a glove on them.
Saka gets into another dangerous position but his cross is wayward and heads towards the stands.
Mohan emails: “Mohan here, an Arsenal fan all the way from Pacific Northwest in USofA. If Rice’s goal stands as winner come end of match today, can we please have a headline saying “Arsenal cook Brentford with White-Rice”?
“Re: soft focus innovation, I remember seeing that for a couple of Serie A games’ highlights. It gave a very weird vibe, like watching a Fifa video game but with real life people.”
I don’t write the headlines, sadly.
36 mins: Another stunning pass from Jorginho who dissects the defence – Havertz latches onto it and tries to dink the ball beyond Flekken but his shot drifts wide. The flag goes up regardless.
34 mins: Jorginho lifts a high pass over the Brentford defence to Havertz, who volleys across the six-yard box but Jorgensen intervenes.
It looks like Norgaard’s race is run. Jensen is coming on.
32 mins: Gabriel shields the ball from Janelt near the byline and is eventually bundled over, earning a free-kick.
Gary Naylor is very specific: “Anything would be an improvement on the official film of the World Cup 1982 - My ★½ review of G’olé! on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/1vN2nV.”
Sounds like a classic.
30 mins: Brentford do get the ball forward and Wissa makes the most of a Kiwior mistake to fire a cross towards corner but it lacks accuracy and Arsenal clear.
Norgaard is down and in need of treatment on his back.
28 mins: Rice pings a corner to the front post where it is attacked by Gabriel but he can only head up and over.
Ron Stack says: “There should be an annual award for the player who makes the best career move. Rice should win it this year, but the award should be named for Kyle Walker.”
26 mins: Do Brentford have enough to get back into this match? I doubt it and I fear they could be a couple down by half time.
Saka does his best to make this true by getting to the byline and dinking a cross to the back post but only Roerslev is there and he heads behind.
Ian Watkins on innovations. “Surely it was the event of Channel 5s football coverage and the rise of Johnathan Pearce. Or possibly Andy Townsend and the Tactics Truck?” I feel Townsend was ahead of his time. Although, it really did not need to be done in a truck.
24 mins: Rice goal is the 32 second from Arsenal in 2024. Not bad. They look very dangerous. Their next league game is a trip to Manchester City in a couple of weeks. That could be fun.
Havertz receives a pass on the edge of the box, he turns and flashes a shot on goal but it is straight at Flekken.
Peter Oh says: “The TV ‘innovation’ I love to hate is portrait mode, in which the object of the camera’s desire is in bathed in soft focus while the background (Fans! Atmosphere!) is blurred out.”
22 mins: Jorgensen is very late on Trossard and goes into the book.
“I for one miss the MS Paint graphics that the pundits used to draw in with their feet for the highlights,” says Phil H. “Now we have graphics that make the player look like they are in a glass of weak squash or about to be raptured.”
20 mins: You have to say, Rice made the right decision in the summer when going to Arsenal. What a difference he has made to this team.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Brentford (Rice, 19)
As I said … a wonderfully chipped cross into the box from White finds Rice who flicks home into the corner.
Updated
18 mins: Brentford look very well organised at the moment but I still think there are a split second away from conceding whenever Arsenal get into the final third.
It’s been a long time since I played a football computer game, so I really can’t appreciate this weird tracking thing. It feels like the pitch is moving.
16 mins: Janelt whips in a corner from the right. Toney heads towards goal but straight at Ramsdale. The goalkeeper then launches a huge throw down the pitch to Trossard who is away but Roerslev gets back just in time to halt his progress on the edge of the box.
I’ve put on this tracking camera and it all seems a bit too weird. I’ll give it five minutes.
14 mins: Janelt performs a lovely dummy to allow Toney is receive the ball in the box but he finds it hard to create and angle to shoot and his shot is blocked. The loose ball is chipped to the back post but then the flag goes up.
12 mins: Lewis-Potter’s free-kick, after much waiting, is utter rubbish and goes straight out for a goal kick.
Colin Young on the worst TV innovation in football: “For me it has to be that ‘artistic’ multi-speed slo-moaction replay that European TV producers can’t keep their hands off... Just stick to one effing speed, you’re not making film-noir.”
10 mins: Saka is high on confidence and is looking lively on the right. Whenever he gets the ball at least two Brentford players get to him as quickly as possible.
Gabriel takes down Wissa with a tug of the shirt on the edge of the box and Brentford have a free-kick in a dangerous position. Gabriel is booked.
Richard Batsford on tech: “Can’t be doing with all the different cameras. For years it seemed like computer games were trying to emulate TV coverage. Now TV is desperate to look like a computer game. The game’s gone.”
8 mins: Saka gets to the byline and pulls the ball back but Collins is the made it reaches, so he whacks it clear. Arsenal have, understandably, started in a very positive fashion. Brentford are having to play quite deep to keep them at bay.
6 mins: Raya is sat behind the dugout wondering when his loan deal will be made permanent.
4 mins: Rice whips in the first corner of the match but it somehow evades everyone and goes out for a goal kick.
Onyeka with a weird lunge on Trossard near the halfway line and he is rightly booked.
2 mins: Saka flies down the right and drives a cross to Trossard but he cannot control the ball and a corner is the result.
Kick off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
Sky Sports are offering a fancy new tracking camera but my luddite mind cannot cope with that. Who remembers when we could watch Sky in 3D? That seemed to be a disaster. Do they still do curved TVs? What is the worst innovation in football TV coverage?
The players are in the tunnel …
Mikel Arteta: “Gabi [Martinelli] has not made it, he got a cut on his foot. Aaron is looking forward to it, he’s been waiting for his opportunity.
Thomas Frank: “Hopefully after the game we will have been able to stop Arsenal. This is an unbelievably tough task against a team in great form but every game as its own story. We know we need to be on top form.
“We need to play the perfect defensive game and be purposeful going forward.”
Karen Carney is on Sky, so read her on set-pieces.
Charles Antaki emails: “Ramsdale back? He’ll be delighted, but it might end up a disaster for him: Raya was doing fine, all others in the team are purring along nicely, lots of clean sheets, very few defensive lapses, much riding on a win, the usual suspects for catastrophic slips, mixups and misconceived passes (the Parteys, the Zinchenkos) not playing… All that puts Ramsdale very much in the spotlight for things going wrong. So, delight, tempered by the yawning chasm of humiliation and failure. Just like any goalkeeper I suppose, but with the trapdoor already creaking underfoot.”
While we wait …
It’s all kicking off at the Emirates.
Early officiating drama at the Emirates, where Andy Townsend is denied dinner for not having a food voucher. His pleas that his producer, who has the vouchers, is out doing an interview on the pitch fall on deaf ears.
— Jonathan Wilson (@jonawils) March 9, 2024
Rules are rules, and consistency has trumped common sense.
A big day for Aaron Ramsdale who makes his first Premier League appearance since the reverse fixture in November. The goalkeeper is in because David Raya is ineligible to play against his parent club. Will he be a little rusty?
Starting lineups
Arsenal (4-3-3): Ramsdale; Gabriel, White, Kiwior, Saliba; Jorginho, Ødegaard, Rice; Saka, Trossard, Havertz
Subs: Hein, Cedric, Zinchenko, Partey, Vieira, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Nketiah, Jesus
Brentford (3-5-2): Flekken; Zanka, Ajer, Collins; Roerslev, Nørgaard, Lewis-Potter, Janelt, Onyeka; Wissa, Toney
Subs: Yarmoliuk, Jensen, Baptiste, Arthur, Damsgaard, Strakosha, Kim, Ghoddos, Maupay
Preamble
The important thing for Arsenal here is that a win puts them top of the table. They need to keep the pressure up on Liverpool and Manchester City going into their big match tomorrow. The Gunners have won their past seven league matches and few will be backing Brentford this afternoon. They will fancy giving the Bees a shooing because they are defence fragile. Thomas Frank’s side have struggled this season but should finish above the red line because others risk points deductions and the bottom two are frankly dreadful.
Let’s hope for a cracker!
Kick-off: 5.30pm GMT
