Brentford player ratings: 'Error prone' 4/10 but 7 showed 'swagger' in Arsenal defeat
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It’s no win in five for Thomas Frank and Brentford following defeat to Arsenal.
Brentford looked capable of humbling Premier League title chasers Arsenal early on at the Gtech on New Year’s Day, but it was the Gunners who left west London with all three points.
Bryan Mbeumo opened the scoring with a trademark Bees break but Mikel Arteta’s side found their footing with goals from Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli.
Thomas Frank now hasn’t managed a win since the 4-2 victory over Newcastle United at the start of December with a trip to Southampton next up on Saturday. Here’s how the Brentford players rated.
Brentford player ratings
GK - Mark Flekken, 5
Unlucky with a couple of goals which came on rebounds, but there’s an argument to say the keeper should have batted the initial shots away better.
LB - Keane Lewis-Potter, 6
Did cause Arsenal a few problems this evening with his pace - a better cross early doors and Mbeumo could have scored an opener even quicker. Needs to find a way to stay in matches.
CB - Sepp Van den Berg, 4
A little error prone today. Looked a little sleepy for the first goal and fatigued in the second half before being taken off.
CB - Nathan Collins, 6
Some good work against a tricky Arsenal forward line, looked strong at times and carried the ball forward well. Did head the ball into Martinelli’s path for the third goal.
RB - Mads Roerslev, 6
Largely comfortable against Martinelli but the Arsenal man did grow in influence as the match went on.
CM - Yehor Yarmoliuk, 5
Tried to push things along after going 3-1 down but Brentford struggled to find a cutting edge.
CM - Christian Norgaard, 5
Covered ground tonight but lacked some spark.
CM - Vitaly Janelt, 6
Showed some right ideas but just lacking the execution at times.
CAM - Mikkel Damsgaard, 5
Improved in the second half after some errors in the first but drifted in and out of action.
ST - Yoane Wissa, 7
Had hunger about his play early, snapping at Thomas Partey’s heels and some impressive work playing out the back. His best moments were in the first half.
ST - Bryan Mbeumo, 7
Took his goal with a swagger, cutting in against Calafiori and firing past Raya. Tried to be a little too clever when playing out before the Gunners’ first goal.
Subs - Paris Maghoma, Kevin Schade, Mathias Jensen, Kim Ji-soo.