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Brentford 0-3 Arsenal: Ethan Nwaneri becomes youngest ever Premier League player as Gunners go top

Arsenal take the lead against Brentford in the Premier League through William Saliba's header
Since the start of last season, only Liverpool (20) and Manchester City (19) have scored more Premier League goals from corners than Arsenal (17)

Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri became the youngest ever Premier League player at 15 years and 181 days as the Gunners defeated Brentford to return to the top of the table.

Mikel Arteta sent on the schoolboy midfielder in the closing moments with his side leading 3-0.

Arsenal’s travelling fans greeted Nwaneri’s appearance by singing: “He’s going to school in the morning.”

William Saliba set Arsenal on their way to a sixth win in seven top-flight games this season after the France defender climbed high to head Bukayo Saka’s corner in off the post.

It was 2-0 inside the opening half an hour as Brazil forward Jesus, a £45m signing from Manchester City in July, headed Granit Xhaka’s measured chip past David Raya.

Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vieira capped a dominant Arsenal display by marking his first Premier League start since joining from Porto with a goal from 25 yards.

Brentford were unbeaten in their previous three games and could have climbed to fifth in the table with a win, but they rarely threatened as forward Ivan Toney, who has been called up by England for the first time, struggled for service.

Arsenal had started the weekend top of the table but dropped to third after Manchester City and Tottenham won on Saturday.

This win, however, put the Gunners on 18 points, one more than their nearest rivals before their next match against Spurs in the north London derby at Emirates Stadium on 1 October (12:30 BST).

Stylish Gunners show they mean business

Arsenal were bullied in the corresponding fixture last season and tamely went down 2-0 against newly promoted Brentford on the opening day of the 2021-22 campaign.

A lot has changed since then and this is a very different Gunners team full of grit, determination and character.

After a first setback of the season at Manchester United in their previous Premier League game, all eyes were on how they would respond against a Brentford side that embarrassed United five weeks earlier.

Despite the absence of influential captain Martin Odegaard because of injury, they dominated from start to finish.

Gabriel Martinelli once again put in an eye-catching shift, Saliba was strong at the back while Saka, who also teed-up Vieira, finished with two assists as the Gunners swept to a third clean-sheet away win of the season.

Ben White, left out of the latest England squad, also played a key role while the margin of victory could have been more but for two fine saves by Raya at 3-0 to keep out Jesus and Saka.

Arsenal have not played in the Champions League since 2016-17.

There is still a long way to go, but signs look promising for Arteta as Arsenal continue to build on a strong start and give their supporters hope they can qualify for European club football’s most prestigious competition.

More to follow.

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Brentford

Starting XI

  1. Squad number1Player nameRaya

    Average rating

    5.27

  2. Squad number20Player nameAjer

    Average rating

    4.84

  3. Squad number18Player nameJansson

    Average rating

    4.61

  4. Squad number16Player nameMee

    Average rating

    4.68

  5. Squad number2Player nameHickey

    Average rating

    5.19

  6. Squad number10Player nameDasilva

    Average rating

    4.52

  7. Squad number27Player nameJanelt

    Average rating

    4.50

  8. Squad number8Player nameJensen

    Average rating

    4.39

  9. Squad number3Player nameHenry

    Average rating

    4.74

  10. Squad number19Player nameMbeumo

    Average rating

    4.44

  11. Squad number17Player nameToney

    Average rating

    4.96

Substitutes

  1. Squad number11Player nameWissa

    Average rating

    3.74

  2. Squad number15Player nameOnyeka

    Average rating

    3.68

  3. Squad number24Player nameDamsgaard

    Average rating

    3.88

  4. Squad number26Player nameBaptiste

    Average rating

    4.00

Arsenal

Starting XI

  1. Squad number1Player nameRamsdale
    Average rating

    7.59

  2. Squad number4Player nameWhite
    Average rating

    8.03

  3. Squad number12Player nameSaliba
    Average rating

    8.44

  4. Squad number6Player nameGabriel Magalhães
    Average rating

    7.98

  5. Squad number3Player nameTierney
    Average rating

    8.21

  6. Squad number5Player namePartey
    Average rating

    7.87

  7. Squad number34Player nameXhaka
    Average rating

    8.40

  8. Squad number7Player nameSaka
    Average rating

    8.14

  9. Squad number21Player nameFábio Vieira
    Average rating

    8.20

  10. Squad number11Player nameGabriel Martinelli
    Average rating

    8.17

  11. Squad number9Player nameGabriel Jesus
    Average rating

    8.56

Substitutes

  1. Squad number14Player nameNketiah
    Average rating

    7.44

  2. Squad number18Player nameTomiyasu
    Average rating

    7.37

  3. Squad number23Player nameSambi Lokonga
    Average rating

    7.26

  4. Squad number27Player nameMarquinhos
    Average rating

    7.18

  5. Squad number83Player nameNwaneri
    Average rating

    8.16

Line-ups

Brentford

Formation 3-5-2

  • 1Raya
  • 20Ajer
  • 18Jansson
  • 16Mee
  • 2Hickey
  • 10DasilvaSubstituted forDamsgaardat 63′minutes
  • 27JaneltSubstituted forOnyekaat 63′minutes
  • 8JensenSubstituted forBaptisteat 69′minutes
  • 3Henry
  • 19MbeumoSubstituted forWissaat 76′minutes
  • 17Toney

Substitutes

  • 7Canós
  • 11Wissa
  • 13M Jorgensen
  • 14Ghoddos
  • 15Onyeka
  • 22Strakosha
  • 24Damsgaard
  • 26Baptiste
  • 30Roerslev

Arsenal

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1Ramsdale
  • 4WhiteSubstituted forTomiyasuat 86′minutes
  • 12Saliba
  • 6Gabriel
  • 3Tierney
  • 5ParteySubstituted forSambi Lokongaat 78′minutes
  • 34XhakaBooked at 58mins
  • 7SakaSubstituted forOliveira Alencarat 90+2′minutes
  • 21Ferreira VieiraSubstituted forNwaneriat 90+2′minutes
  • 11MartinelliSubstituted forNketiahat 78′minutes
  • 9Gabriel JesusBooked at 90mins

Substitutes

  • 14Nketiah
  • 16Holding
  • 18Tomiyasu
  • 23Sambi Lokonga
  • 27Oliveira Alencar
  • 30Turner
  • 72Smith
  • 83Nwaneri
  • 96Sousa

Referee:
David Coote

Match Stats

Live Text

  1. Match ends, Brentford 0, Arsenal 3.

  2. Second Half ends, Brentford 0, Arsenal 3.

  3. Substitution, Arsenal. Marquinhos replaces Bukayo Saka.

  4. Substitution, Arsenal. Ethan Nwaneri replaces Fábio Vieira.

  5. Attempt missed. Ivan Toney (Brentford) header from the centre of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Mikkel Damsgaard with a cross following a set piece situation.

  6. Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

  7. Foul by Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal).

  8. Aaron Hickey (Brentford) wins a free kick on the right wing.

  9. Kieran Tierney (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  10. Foul by Frank Onyeka (Brentford).

  11. Attempt saved. Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the bottom right corner.

  12. Substitution, Arsenal. Takehiro Tomiyasu replaces Ben White.

  13. Albert Sambi Lokonga (Arsenal) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

  14. Foul by Frank Onyeka (Brentford).

  15. Foul by Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal).

  16. Kristoffer Ajer (Brentford) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

  17. Offside, Brentford. Mikkel Damsgaard tries a through ball, but Yoane Wissa is caught offside.

  18. Offside, Brentford. Mikkel Damsgaard tries a through ball, but Ivan Toney is caught offside.

  19. Foul by Bukayo Saka (Arsenal).

  20. Frank Onyeka (Brentford) wins a free kick on the left wing.

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