Second-half goals from Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka were enough to seal another important victory on Saturday as Arsenal beat Brentford to keep the heat on in the hunt for the top four.
With the results of gunners rivals mainly going their way of late, Arsenal knew a win was imperative – and the way they started underlined that.
Arsenal immediately asserted dominance and didn’t take the foot off the pedal throughout the first half, although they didn’t have anything to show for it
With the electric Martin Odegaard pulling the strings, the gunners spent the opening 45 minutes camped in the Brentford half and created a series of openings with quick, one-touch attacking.
Bukayo Saka was first to try his luck before Alex Lacazette saw a shot blocked and then had a goal disallowed for an agonisingly tight offside call.
Odegaard was everywhere, pushing and pulling the Bees defence every way, but they just couldn’t find the breakthrough – with Lacazette soon dragging a shot wide from the edge of the area.
The gunners started the second half in much the same manner, but this time they barely had any time to wait for the breakthrough as Lacazette found Smith Rowe on the left, and he busted into the box before curling the ball low into the far corner.
Arsenal continued to come forward as they looked to kill off the game, but Brentford remained stubborn opponents and began to push on themselves.
But just as the tension was rising, Arsenal killed off the game in devastating fashion, Thomas Partey finding Saka to the left of the box and he drilled a fine strike into the far corner.
That strike meant the Londoners have scored 20 Premier League goals by players aged 21 or under in a single season for the second time, after 2008/09.
There was still time for Christian Norgaard to poke home from close range, with the goal awarded after a VAR check, but it was too late to ever seriously threaten the result.
The full-time whistle was greeted with a big roar, as it signalled a second successive victory since the winter break and kept Arsenal firmly in touch with other top-four rivals.
