Arsenal return to top spot as Fábio Vieira strike seals win at Brentford

What a departure this was from the night, 13 months ago, when Arsenal buckled under a battering at this stadium. This time they subdued it to near silence, taking an early lead through William Saliba and never looking remotely likely to let it slip. Ghosts are rarely slain this cleanly: Mikel Arteta’s team were vastly superior to Brentford in every department and, given it is safe to assume not all of their rivals will have it quite as easy here, can feel they have provided a compelling advertisement for their ability to compete at the business end.

Further goals from Gabriel Jesus and Fábio Vieira, the latter with a sublime strike from range, guaranteed their return to the top and meant they could contest most of the second half with the match won before creating a moment of history at the end. When Ethan Nwaneri emerged from the bench early in stoppage time, he became the Premier League’s youngest-ever player, at 15 years and 181 days old.

The disappointment for Brentford was that, after looking comfortable in the air for the first quarter of an hour, they conceded from a straightforward set piece. Bukayo Saka’s inswinging corner, dipped left-footed towards the near post, was expertly delivered but there was no escaping the fact Ivan Toney switched off. He allowed Saliba to get in front of him and glance across David Raya, the ball clearly going in via the far upright. Toney’s England call-up on Thursday was well deserved but this was a costly moment of inattention.

Arteta raised his arms aloft when, after a moment’s pause, David Coote signalled that Saliba’s header had crossed the line. In fact there had been little doubt and there was no mistaking the goal’s importance: the opening exchanges had been scrappy and there were obvious benefits for Arsenal in picking the lock so early.

Thomas Frank had reverted to a back three, giving the fit-again Kristoffer Ajer his first appearance of the season, and sacrificing a forward, but the depletion of Brentford’s creative options presented a problem now they were behind. It was made even starker when Arsenal doubled their lead with another strike that made a mockery of the hosts’ attempts to look solid.

That should not take away from the excellence of the goal, which was wrought by a deliciously dug-out cross from Granit Xhaka. He sent the ball drifting over Pontus Jansson, and Jesus, whose movement had been too much for the centre-back, flexed his neck to propel an emphatic header into Raya’s top right corner. Jesus celebrated by kneeling and pretending to polish the boots of Xhaka, whose creative juices have been flowing in recent weeks.

William Saliba (left) heads in Arsenal’s opening goal at Brentford. Photograph: Michael Zemanek/Shutterstock

Life had become remarkably serene for Arsenal. That had not seemed especially likely at the outset, with Martin Ødegaard – the captain – and Oleksandr Zinchenko both ruled out through injury. Even though Thomas Partey was fit to return, Nwaneri’s presence in the travelling party made the point that Arteta’s resources remain easily stretched despite their substantial summer investment. Vieira, making his first top-flight start in Ødegaard’s absence, found the occasional pocket of space in which to rise above the bustle and hint at what would follow.

Little came off for Brentford. They were unrecognisable from their most punchy, high-octane selves and a venue that needs little invitation to pulsate to its team’s rhythm was entirely becalmed. The wind did their attempts to find the flanks with long diagonal balls few favours: although Raya earned applause early on with an excellent switch to pick out Rico Henry, by the interval he had drawn groans with a couple of wayward attempts and those were of a piece with his team’s showing.

Toney had been firmly second best against Gabriel Magalhães, even though the sight of the Brazilian feeling an injury during the warm-up and requiring treatment midway through the first half might have set his eyes ablaze. But he was short of support and the pattern continued after the restart. Brentford made nothing stick in the early moments and quickly found the game put beyond them.

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It was quite an introduction to the wider public for Vieira, who was completely unattended when Saka jinked inside and found him 22 yards from goal. There was still plenty to do and his finish, bent in left-footed off a post, was outstanding. Ben Mee, in particular, had twisted himself in knots as Saka advanced; Brentford had come to appear gauche in the extreme.

Frank’s side had yet to come remotely close, although Toney was not far off with an inventive flick-up and volley from a free-kick just outside the area. Arsenal looked capable of scoring more, Raya saving twice from Jesus after bursts through on the inside left and denying Saka with a flying one-handed stop.

When Toney did look like getting away, the immaculate Saliba was on hand to tidy up and retain possession in the process. The introduction of Mikkel Damsgaard afforded Brentford slightly more edge and, as the stadium rose to applaud the late Queen after 70 minutes, he gave Aaron Ramsdale his first and only serious piece of work with an angled shot. That flutter apart, Arsenal cruised home.