Keith Andrews saw the Brentford equaliser hit the back of the net. He hurtled off the bench and leapt on the shoulders of Jordan Henderson, who was waiting to come on. His elation was for his team but his jump of joy may well have been re-enacted a couple of hundred miles to the north in Manchester.
Keane Lewis-Potter’s 71st minute goal meant two dropped points for Arsenal and signalled the rebirth of a title race that many had declared over when Liverpool went ahead against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday.
But City fought back to win that game and now Arsenal have faltered and Mikel Arteta’s side only hold a four-point lead over City with 12 games left to go. City swept Fulham aside the Wednesday night and Arsenal’s failure to do the same at the Gtech Community Stadium means the battle has been joined.
We should not have been surprised by Brentford’s performance. They have beaten Aston Villa, Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United here in west London already this season and they deserved their point on Thursday night.
Those in search of any early signs of nerves in the Arsenal players had some defensive jitters to cling on to. Gabriel struck an intended backpass straight out for a corner and then David Raya let another backpass roll under his foot and towards goal. He recovered just in time.
The home crowd became quickly frustrated by a string of marginal decisions going in Arsenal’s favour. Their exasperation was shared by Brentford boss Keith Andrews, who was booked midway through the half for expressing his dismay once too often.
Arsenal dropped two points in the title race with a 1-1 draw at Brentford on Thursday night
Keane Lewis-Potter (centre) scored Brentford’s equaliser to deny Arsenal all three points
Noni Madueke initially gave Arsenal the lead on 61 minutes before Lewis-Potter’s equaliser
When Brentford did find some solace, it was Arsenal who presented it to them. Raya, a former Brentford keeper, seemed to get confused who it was he played for now and rolled the ball straight out to Mathias Jensen as he tried to set up an Arsenal counter-attack.
Jensen seized on his unexpected opportunity and curled a cross into the box. Igor Thiago rose majestically to meet it but his header was just too close to Raya, who redeemed himself for his error by flinging himself to his left and palming the ball away to safety.
Arsenal struggled to find inspiration. They showed plenty of endeavour and they had plenty of possession but they could not find a spark. Eberechi Eze went down in the box but appeals for a penalty looked wildly optimistic. By half-time, it was Brentford who looked the more likely side to make a breakthrough.
Arteta reacted by bringing Odegaard on for Eze at half-time and it almost paid dividends immediately. Odegaard lifted a delicate chip over a defender to Piero Hincapie and his driven cross just eluded the lunging right boot of Viktor Gyokeres.
There was more urgency and more invention in Arsenal’s game now and they took the lead after an hour. Hincapie retrieved a poor clearance on the Arsenal left and swung a cross to the back post where Noni Madueke leapt early and directed his header back across goal. Caoimhin Kelleher was wrong-footed and the ball bounced over the line. It was a classic centre forward’s header scored by a quicksilver winger.
Brentford should have equalised straight away. Jensen hoisted a corner to the back post where Keane Lewis-Potter was waiting unmarked. He met it well but with the goal at his mercy, he steered his header down and wide.
