Arsenal’s grip on the Premier League title has loosened considerably after they could only manage a 1-1 draw against a determined Brentford side on Thursday evening.
The Gunners have now watched their advantage at the summit shrink from nine points to just three since the weekend, with Manchester City breathing down their necks following their midweek victory over Fulham.
“For seven months we have been doing that. We are used to it,” Mikel Arteta said before kick-off when asked about handling the pressure.
But his team looked anything but comfortable, with Keith Andrews’ Brentford outfit arguably deserving all three points.
Brentford equalised against Arsenal through Keane Lewis-Potter
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Noni Madueke, hardly known for his aerial prowess, silenced the home supporters who had been mocking Arsenal’s title credentials just moments earlier.
The winger rose brilliantly to meet Piero Hincapie’s pinpoint delivery, guiding his header past Caoimhin Kelleher to give the visitors the lead.
But the joy was short-lived.
Lewis-Potter really should have levelled immediately from a corner but put his header wide. It didn’t matter for long, though.
Michael Kayode’s trademark long throw caused chaos in the Arsenal box, with Sepp van den Berg flicking on for Lewis-Potter to poke home and restore parity.
Arsenal might have stumbled somewhat in the title race
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Arsenal’s evening was made tougher by the absence of William Saliba through illness and Kai Havertz, who picked up a muscle problem during the win over Sunderland.
Cristhian Mosquera and Eberechi Eze came into the starting lineup for their first Premier League appearances in two months, though neither made much of an impact.
Gabriel Magalhaes showed early jitters by passing the ball straight out for a corner in just the third minute.
Eze struggled badly in the number ten role, looking nothing like the player who bagged a hat-trick against Spurs back in November.
He was replaced at half-time by Martin Odegaard, who had been recovering from injury.
Noni Madueke opened the scoring for Arsenal
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The closing stages were absolutely frantic, with both sides spurning chances to snatch victory.
Igor Thiago had the best opportunity of the lot when he found himself in space during injury time, but the Brazilian blazed his effort over the bar after Mosquera and Declan Rice had both thrown themselves into last-ditch tackles.
At the other end, Gabriel Martinelli thought he’d won it for Arsenal, only for Kelleher to produce a superb diving save to keep the scores level.
It’s fair to say Arsenal supporters will be feeling rather nervous about what lies ahead in this title race.
