It was Arsenal’s turn to respond in the title race. Instead, flawed display invigorates Man City

BRENTFORD — When Arsenal arrived at the Gtech Community Stadium on Thursday night, they did so with a four-point cushion at the summit and the chance to stretch it further. They departed with the lead intact on paper, yet the sense that the momentum in the Premier League title race had lurched unmistakably toward the chasing pack — and specifically toward Manchester City.

City had spent the previous 48 hours tightening the screws: a hard-fought win at Anfield followed by a routine dismissal of Fulham meant Pep Guardiola’s side had already trimmed the gap before a ball was kicked in west London. Mikel Arteta’s side, therefore, knew anything less than victory against a Brentford outfit sitting seventh would invite pressure. They managed only a 1-1 draw, and even that felt generous.

Noni Madueke’s acrobatic 61st-minute finish — a soaring volley from Piero Hincapié’s delivery — appeared to have Arsenal en route to the kind of statement response their manager demanded. Instead, the visitors retreated, inviting the chaos Thomas Frank’s successor, Keith Andrews, openly craves. A long throw from Michael Kayode was flicked on by Sepp van den Berg and steered home by Keane Lewis-Potter, the goal dripping with the set-piece pedigree Andrews once helped forge at Brentford.

Arsenal could easily have left with nothing. Gabriel Magalhães escaped a second yellow for hauling back Dango Ouattara, Igor Thiago twice went close, and only Declan Rice’s perfectly timed intervention denied Mikkel Damsgaard a late winner. At the other end, Gabriel Martinelli dallied long enough for Caoimhín Kelleher to smother the game’s best chance to restore the lead.

The numbers paint a stark picture: two shots on target all evening, a sixth league match in nine without scoring more than once, and just two wins from the last six. Arsenal’s shot-conversion rate ranks 11th in that span; their expected goals figure (3.54) is 12th. Only 16% of their league goals this season have originated from open play — the fourth-worst ratio in the division.

Arteta’s experiment of starting Eberechi Eze in Martin Odegaard’s usual playmaking role fizzled out. Eze drifted ever deeper in search of possession, prompting the manager to gesture animatedly for Martín Zubimendi to push beyond him. By the interval, the tweak was abandoned; by the 54th minute, Eze was hooked.

“We needed another profile to generate problems in the areas they were pressing,” Arteta conceded afterwards, refusing to single out the Palace loanee. Yet the issues were collective. Viktor Gyökeres could not hold the ball, Leandro Trossard flickered on the margins, and even the introduction of Bukayo Saka failed to ignite a blunt attack.

Declan Rice, ever the realist, fronted up. “You can’t be naïve to think this is going to be easy,” he said. “We’re playing the best teams every week. We control the controllables, block out the noise.” The midfielder’s rallying cry echoed around a silent away end that had arrived hoping for reassurance and left wondering whether the old narrative of Arsenal as perennial runners-up is about to be reprised.

Brentford, for their part, revelled in the result. “Second again, ole ole,” sang the home support, gleefully forecasting another near-miss for their visitors. The Bees, unbeaten in five, were good value for a point and might have had more but for the woodwork and some last-ditch defending.

City, watching from afar, could hardly have scripted a better midweek. The gap remains four points, yet the psychological swing is palpable. Arsenal still hold pole position, but the road ahead — and the rear-view mirror — suddenly looks a lot more crowded.