Brentford’s Yoane Wissa strikes to bring Arsenal back down to earth

The last time we were here, on Tuesday night, Arsenal enjoyed surely the finest occasion in Emirates Stadium history. The 3-0 win over Real Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final will live forever; the return is eagerly awaited on Wednesday.

It was always likely to be lower-key here, Mikel Arteta making five changes to his team and watching them labour. The blood and thunder of the Madrid tie was missing; the do-or-die imperatives. It was a slog for Arsenal and as the hour mark approached, Arteta knew he had to do something. He readied three stellar substitutes – Myles Lewis-Skelly, Martin Ødegaard and Bukayo Saka.

Perhaps, it was their presence on the touchline that provided the inspiration. Or maybe it was just that Declan Rice is having the week of his life. His two free-kick goals against Madrid had even got the royal seal of approval, Prince William backing him to take over as England’s set-piece taker. Either way, Arsenal were in front before Arteta could make the triple change.

David Raya claimed a Brentford corner and when he threw out to Rice, the midfielder was just outside his own area. What followed was a devastating run to the edge of the Brentford box, Rice getting into that lengthy stride before drawing the chasing defender, Yoane Wissa, and playing in the overlapping Thomas Partey, who did the rest.

Arsenal could not see it through. On the balance of the chances, they deserved to win but not by dint of the entertainment they provided or the intensity they brought. Brentford have been impressive on their travels in recent weeks, winning five of their previous six matches, even if the one before this had been the defeat at Newcastle. It would go down as their latest fine result away from the Gtech Stadium.

Brentford do not have anything to distract them. Thomas Frank was entitled to say his team were “excellent defensively” and Wissa was the hero, punishing Arsenal when they failed to defend properly after clearing a corner. They were exposed when Bryan Mbeumo released the substitute, Michael Kayode, up the right and his cross picked out Nathan Collins, who headed back from the far post. Wissa was alive to the bounce, spinning to lash home his 15th goal of the Premier League season.

Arsenal would finish with 10 men, Jorginho departing in the 85th minute after a heavy fall that looked to wind him; Arteta had already made his five changes. One of them was to remove Partey, who the manager said had “felt something so we didn’t want to take any risks”. Arteta was asked whether Partey would be OK for the second leg against Madrid. “We don’t know,” he replied. “The doctors will check him.”

The Arsenal manager was desperate to avoid any injuries and it was why he reacted so explosively to Christian Nørgaard’s scissors-style foul on Gabriel Martinelli in the 28th minute, for which the Brentford captain was booked. Arteta ranted at the fourth official and Martinelli would later describe it as a potential leg-breaker. Nørgaard attempted to apologise in the tunnel at half-time only for Martinelli to wave him away. “I thought it was a strong yellow but it was yellow,” Frank said.

View image in fullscreen Thomas Partey’s shot beats Mark Flekken to give Arsenal the lead. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

Arteta was always going to rotate; Jurrien Timber and Mikel Merino were also used only as substitutes. And if there were huge cheers for Rice at the outset, the Arsenal support were otherwise subdued. “The atmosphere was different to Tuesday, that’s for sure,” Arteta said. “I don’t know if it [the Madrid tie] was playing in the back of the [minds of the] crowd.”

Arteta started with Partey at right-back, Kieran Tierney at left-back and Oleksandr Zinchenko as a No 8/No 10. There was a surge of excitement on 26 minutes when Tierney flicked home a fine header from an Ethan Nwaneri cross but he was clearly in an offside position, which was confirmed by the VAR.

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Brentford had created a clear chance in the 22nd minute, Mbeumo releasing Kristoffer Ajer with a lovely flick only for the defender to be denied by a Raya block. That was the sum total of their attacking threat before the interval. William Saliba released Martinelli with a fizzed ball over the top towards the end of the first half, which the Arsenal winger killed with a good first touch and Brentford were grateful to Ajer for a saving tackle.

The visitors were comfortable and so the nature of the concession had to gall Frank. It was not a part of his defensive plan to be caught out on an end-to-end counter. Rice just had to be the driver of it, leaving Mikkel Damsgaard in his wake but credit, as well, to Partey for his support run.

Saka had Arsenal’s best chance after Wissa’s equaliser, robbing Mark Flekken after the goalkeeper had taken a poor touch. Kayode, though, raced back to thwart him.

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