3 positives & 2 negatives from Arsenal's year-opening win at Brentford

Arsenal marked their first game of the new year with a win as they beat Brentford 3-1 at the Gtech Community Stadium.

The Gunners fell behind in the early stages when Bryan Mbeumo cut inside Riccardo Calafiori before slotting it past former teammate David Raya. Arsenal's December hero Gabriel Jesus continued his impeccable return to form as he was in the right position to head home an equaliser for his side.

Set pieces were a source of goals for the Gunners once again when Ethan Nwaneri's corner bounced around in the box before Mikel Merino smashed it home to put his side ahead. Gabriel Martinelli extended Arsenal's lead to 3-1 minutes later when he took a touch before firing a sumptuous volley past a frozen Mark Flekken.

As Arsenal kept themselves in the Premier League title race, there were several positives and negatives for them to take from their 3-1 comeback victory at Brentford.

Positive #1: Set pieces strike again

Arsenal's second goal against Brentford came from another set piece and was finished off by Mikel Merino. Ethan Nwaneri's corner was not cleared by the Bees' defence and it resulted in the Spain midfielder firing past Mark Flekken to give his side the lead.

Merino's goal was the 25th the Gunners have scored from a corner since the start of the 2023/24 season.

Thomas Frank thought his side were well prepared to face Arsenal's set piece threat and the statistics supported that point. Brentford had conceded just once from a corner all season but 'Dark Arts FC' were able to break through their formidable defence. Mikel Arteta's side showed that their set piece brilliance will continue as we head into a new year and they will remain a huge threat.

Negative #1: Conceding early

As was the case in their 3-2 Carabao Cup win over Crystal Palace, Arsenal conceded in the opening stages against Brentford. Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring for his side after just 13 minutes when he beat David Raya at his near post.

While Arsenal managed to pick themselves up to go on and win the game, the early concession is a cause for concern. Letting in an opener in the early stages of a match can sometimes decide which way the momentum will swing for the entire bout and they were lucky that was not the case against the Bees.

The Gunners must kick this habit of conceding early out of their system as it puts unnecessary pressure on them. Allowing their opponent to score the first goal at any time is not particularly good either as that also just makes things more difficult for Arsenal. That didn't have to happen in the game at Brentford.

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