The two most in-form teams over the last 10 matches. Needless to say, Arsenal's trip to Brentford for Matchday 26 of the Premier League was anything but a walk in the park. And the start of the match confirmed this, with the Bees looking combative and dangerous, thanks to their striker Igor Thiago, who forced Raya into action. In a rather disjointed game due to the intensity of both sides, Eze struggled to make an impact in the Gunners' midfield, and he was logically replaced at halftime by Odegaard.
Arsenal started the second half better and opened the scoring with a fine header from Madueke, following a cross from Hincapié (0-1, 63rd minute). Igor Thiago was once again thwarted by an imperious Raya, who finally conceded to a Brentford specialty: Kayode's long throw-in. Deflected by Van den Berg, it was headed home by Lewis-Potter (1-1, 71st minute). Brentford even came close to taking the lead, were it not for a superb tackle by Mosquera on Thiago in the 88th minute. The introduction of Saka made no difference for Arsenal – despite a final, huge chance for Martinelli, who missed his one-on-one with the goalkeeper – and they let slip two valuable points in the title race. Manchester City are now only four points behind.