William Saliba, Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira scored the goals as Arsenal moved back to the top of the table with a comfortable 3-0 win over Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium. Mikel Arteta’s side now has 18 points after seven games and are a point clear of Manchester City and Tottenham, who sit second and third respectively after wins against Wolves and Leicester on Saturday.
Centre-back William Saliba got the Gunners going early with a header from a Bukayo Saka corner after 17 minutes.
Then 11 minutes later Gabriel Jesus doubled the visitors’ lead with a powerful header from an excellent Granit Xhaka cross. How Xhaka found himself in so much space right on the edge of the Brentford box will remain a mystery.
The home side was woeful in the first half, with the usually boisterous crowd virtually silent throughout.
Arsenal controlled the ball, holding 64% possession, and their defensive shape also denied Brentford their usual attacking patterns.
The Bees did find some joy in behind ersatz right-back Ben White, but goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was never tested.
Brentford’s strike partnership of Bryan Mbeumo and Ivan Toney managed just four touches in the Arsenal box combined.
Any hopes that the home side could regroup after the break were swept away when Fabio Vieira scored Arsenal’s third.
Vieira, making his first start for the club after joining in the summer, hit a sensational long-range strike that dipped and clipped the post on its way past David Raya.
Brentford improved in the final moments, but barely mounted a single attack of consequence in surprisingly poor performance.
Arsenal head into the international break atop the Premier League, and face rivals Tottenham in their first match back.
Courtesy Eurosport.com
