Arsenal reclaimed top spot in impressive fashion, 15-year-old with debut for history
Arsenal returned to the top of the Premier League provisional table from where they were displaced yesterday following victories over Manchester City and Tottenham after beating Brentford 3-0 away in an emphatic way in the eighth-round London derby. William Saliba gave the “gunners” the lead in the 17th minute, Gabriel Jesus doubled in the 28th. Fabio Vieira shaped the final score after the break with his debut goal for Arsenal. It was Brentford’s first home loss since the start of the season.
Thomas Frank had made two changes to his line-up. Christopher Ayer started for the first time this season. Josh Da Silva is also back among the starters.
Arsenal captain Martin Jodegaard missed the match but Thomas Partey returned from injury. Summer signing Fabio Vieira made his first Premier League start. Kieran Tierney also started as Oleksandr Zinchenko is injured.
The Gunners started the better and in the 17th minute took the lead thanks to one of their strongest weapons in recent times. William Zaliba met Saka’s cross from a corner, the ball hit the far post and into the goal for Raya. 11 minutes later, Arsenal were already two goals ahead after Gabriel Jesus headed in a very good cross from Granit Xhaka, who led the team to the captain’s armband today.
Arsene continued to control the game until the break. In the 30th, Saka shot dangerously from a small angle, but his shot went over the goal.
Already at the beginning of the second part – in the 49th minute, Fabio Vieira killed the intrigue with a nice debut goal. The Portuguese received from Saka on the edge of the penalty area and from about 20 meters he shot, the ball hit the post and entered the goal of Raya for the third time.
Arsenal continued to dominate, but Raya saved dangerous shots from Jesus and Sacca. Brentford only created a more serious situation. It happened in the 71st minute when Ramsdale dealt with Damsgaard’s shot. In the 80th minute, David Coote awarded the home side a penalty for a foul on Ivan Toney. However, after the intervention of the VAR, this decision was dropped after an ambush was ruled.
A few minutes before the end, Raya deflected another dangerous shot from Jesus.
In stoppage time, we witnessed a historic moment as 15-year-old Nwaneri replaced Vieira and became the youngest player to make his Premier League debut in the entire history of the competition.
