Arsenal back on top of Premier League with win over Brentford as 15-year-old makes debut

Both goalkeepers made comfortable saves in the early exchanges as Gabriel Martinelli spurned a glorious chance for the visitors, before Bryan Mbuemo’s looping header was caught. The Gunners were ahead by the 17th minute though as Saliba met Bukayo Saka’s corner, perfectly flicking it onto the underside of the bar and narrowly over the line.

A header was Brentford’s undoing once again shortly afterwards when Jesus doubled the lead, nodding on Granit Xhaka’s sumptuous clipped cross. Indeed, Arsenal looked threatening every time they burst forwards, and the advantage could have been even greater had Saka, Xhaka and Tierney not failed to hit the target with further shots.

The visitors were running riot, but the best was yet to come as summer signing Fábio Vieira marked his full PL debut with a 25-yard screamer, whipping a vicious effort into the back of the net straight after the break. Only David Raya then stopped Jesus grabbing his second, before the keeper then made another fine stop to deny Saka.

See stats from the match at Flashscore

Brentford attacks were few and far between, though substitute Mikkel Damsgaard did force Aaron Ramsdale into a smart save at his near post. Ultimately, though, Thomas Frank’s side had no response as they suffered their heaviest defeat since moving to the Brentford Community Stadium in 2020, while this was just their third loss in their last 23 home London derbies.

Meanwhile, in the closing minutes, Arsenal brought on Ethan Nwaneri, who was born after the Emirates Stadium opened and, at 15 years and 180 days, becomes the youngest player in PL history.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Arsenal)