Mikel Arteta reflected on why **Arsenal**drew 1-1 against Brentford.
The Gunners have seen their lead at the top of the Premier League cut down to four points thanks to this stalemate. The manager mentioned key misses on the evening, but they were only part of the tale.
“I think that the game had different moments. The first 10-15 minutes we lacked certain composure to dominate the game better. I think after that we started to play much more in our way and started to play in their half and generated some good situations without really having clear-cut chances.
“The second half, the way we started, we looked to threat. The way we combined, the way we threat constantly their backline and the goalkeeper, it was much better, without hitting the target enough times or finishing enough actions, and then we scored the goal and the game was under total control.
“But against them, that's not enough, because they just need somebody making a foul that is unnecessary. A ball in the channel, they push you. The clearance is not good, ball goes for a throw-in.
“Then you have to pray, because they are exceptional at what they do. The chaos that is in and around that ball is very, very difficult to defend, and we said, you want to win here, you're going to have to defend the box with your life, and you're going to have to clear the ball, because there's a lot of people there, and if you don't do that, it's very difficult for you to win the game.
“We haven't done it in one of the actions. Credit to them as well for that, and then the game became more open, more transitional. They had one of the big chances and the clearance of Declan Rice just at the end, and we have two very good counters and probably the biggest chance of the game when Gabriel Martinelli is 1v1 with the keeper to win it.
“*Brentford*are really good, because when they have to play it around as well, there are so many areas in their high press where they are really good. They are exceptional when they have to counter.
“They have a lot of qualities, and credit to them. They can take the game into the areas, they are really well coached, and from the beginning I said credit to them for what they do - because they don’t have the home record and aren’t in the position they are in the league [without it], that’s for sure.”