Mikel Arteta and Declan Rice have delivered their verdict after Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw at Brentford.
Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal let a controlled position slip after their 1-1 draw at Brentford, while Declan Rice insisted the point could yet prove valuable in the context of a title race that remains in the club’s hands.
From an Arsenal perspective, the result is frustrating but not terminal. The first half was well below the standards set this season, with little fluency and just a single attempt on goal before the interval.
Brentford’s barrage of long throws and set-pieces forced David Raya into significant saves and turned the contest into the kind of chaotic, low-control encounter Arsenal would rather avoid.
After the interval the tone shifted with the introduction of Martin Odegaard. Arsenal increased the tempo and found a breakthrough when Piero Hincapie delivered from the left and Noni Madueke arrived with a precise header just after the hour.
It felt, at that point, like a decisive moment in a tight away fixture, and there were opportunities to extend the lead.
The equaliser came from a long throw, finished by Keane Lewis-Potter after the initial delivery caused problems following a clear foul on Jurrien Timber that was ignored. It was the type of defending that will irritate Arteta, particularly given his warning beforehand that defending Brentford’s dead balls can resemble a “casino” where anything can happen.
After the match, Arteta said: “It was a very tough match. We knew that it was very tough to dominate them for the whole game. They are really good at dragging you into the game that they want.
“We struggled the first 10-15 minutes, then we picked it up. In the second half I think we started dominating the game with the pace, the intent that we had, and the amount of situations that we generated, without really hitting the target often enough in my opinion and finishing too many chances. Then we scored the goal and the game was totally controlled.
“After that, you have to stay so disciplined, not to give fouls away. The clearances have to be, especially the balls in the channel, in the right way and the moment you don’t do that and you concede the set-piece, a long throw, you have to defend with your life.
“Then you have to maybe defend another set-piece and it’s very difficult to get out of that game. Then the game got stretched when they scored and either team could have won it. We could have won it with the chance of Gabi at the end and unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”
Arteta added: “We have to look at what we’ve done. We know that we should have done things better, especially in the box. If you want to win, you’re going to have to defend the balls in and around because they don’t need anything.
“We keep going, we take the point. We’re going to have to learn and improve in certain areas for sure but we have another competition that we are very excited to play in.”
Rice struck a similarly balanced tone. “We weren’t naive to think that this was going to be a pushover,” he said. “They’re an amazing team, they’re seventh in the league and Keith Andrews has got them playing really, really well. They’re so effective at how they play, and we prepared for that. We knew what was coming.
“It might be a valuable point towards the end. The only thing we can do is just keep worrying about ourselves like we’ve been doing. We’ve been on an amazing run this season, the performances have been incredible. If you look at the amount of games we’ve played and how many we’ve won, we’ve lost three in all competitions all season.
“So let’s take the positives, keep going, keep pushing, keep sticking together. Everyone’s needed on this road to the end. There’s a long way to go but we’re positive.”
Reflecting further, he added: “It was a really tough game. They probably had the first 20 minutes, we then probably had the next 25 and ended the first half really well. Then we started the second half really well, got the goal which was fully deserved, and then they probably had the last 25 minutes. So it was split into different stages, and could have probably gone either way at the end.
“We really wanted to win, we wanted to stamp our authority on it, but in the end we have to take the point and move forward.
“We have to keep going. We’ve played a lot of games this season, and we’ve got to keep staying mentally refreshed, physically refreshed. Now we move on to the next game, so got to keep going.”
The draw cuts Arsenal’s advantage at the top but leaves the title race firmly within their control.