Premierleague 

ARSENAL 1 (Trossard, 67)

BRENTFORD 1 (Toney, 74)

ARSENAL dropped two more points as they shared the spoils with Brentford, who were more than good for a point.

A drop-off in intensity – evident last weekend at Goodison Park – and a lack of menace up-front has left the title challenge hanging in the balance.

The Gunners are going to have to raise their game for Wednesday night when Manchester City arrive for the big show down.

Super-sub Leandro Trossard tucked in at the back post after Bukayo Saka lashed the ball across the face.

The pressure had been building before the goal, and the fresh legs of Trossard gave the Gunners that extra edge.

But Ivan Toney nodded in an equaliser after a game of head tennis between defence and attack in the box.

The VAR was later found to be at fault for the goal, having failed to draw the lines for the critical stage of the move.

Instead the replays seemed to spend an age focusing on a passage of play that wouldn’t have mattered if it was offside or not.

All this was taking place without fans realising, however, and they had to simply accept the ruling when the referee finally blew the whistle.

VAR bungle or not, the equalised had been coming. The Bees’ big man had already spurned big chances already.

He had hit the bar in a glaring miss and saw his powerful long range shot palmed away by Ramsdale in the first half

Arsenal dominated possession as expected but had been fortunate not to go in at the break without conceding.

The play felt too comfortable at times.

The passing was not quick enough.  Forwards were not running into space as they should have been.

There was not enough urgency and a walking pace to it all. The crowd seemed still hungover from the disappointing Everton result last week.

Sides coming to Emirates now regularly have two or three men running over to the flanks to stop Arsenal’s main goal threat: the Saka and Martinelli give-and-goes.

Brentford did an expert job at this, while also packing the box in a disciplined manner.

There were some passages when 21 players were in the ‘final third’, with Aaron Ramsdale watching on from the half way line.

Arsenal attacking players kept finding their normal avenues blocked off and were forced to cut back or curl in chipped crosses that were easily dealt with by the centre backs.

Oleksandr Zinchenko had a few good chances and, despite a few misplaced passes, he still drives the team on.

The midfield were trying to thread the eye of the needle, and only occasionally they got it right.

For all the possession, the best chance Arsenal had was probably Martinelli’s volley on the swivel in the first half that flew over the bar,

Thomas Partey was Arsenal’s best player. He has great composure and spreads the play but not always with a straightforward sideways pass.

Eddie Nketiah did not cause much trouble and there are few centre-back pairings in the country that would fear the striker’s presence.

He needs to add some bite to his game because his style is frustratingly languid.

Vieira came on for the last 10 minutes just when Arsenal needed some creativity. But he doesn’t appear to be ready for the Premierleague yet.

His free kick in the last minute – spooned into the hands of Raya – summed up the disappointing afternoon.

Arsenal: Ramsdale, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Odegaard, Xhaka (Vieira 80), Saka, Nketiah, Martinelli (Trossard 61)
Substitutes not used: Turner, Tierney, Kiwior, Jorginho, Holding, Cozier-Duberry

Brentford: Raya, Herny, Pinnock, Norgaard, Jensen, Mee, Toney, Mbeumo (Wissa 72), Ajer, Janelt (Dasilva 71), Roerslev,
Subs not used: Cox, Hickey, Schade, Zanka, Lewis-Potter, Damsgaard, Baptiste.