From capable understudy to proven Premier League marksman: Wissa reaches 50 goal involvements in Arsenal draw | OneFootball

Yoane Wissa brought up 50 Premier League goal involvements in style on Saturday, as his swivel and volley earned Brentford a deserved 1-1 draw against second-placed Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

Only the second player to reach the milestone for the Bees, Wissa joined his partner in crime Bryan Mbeumo (38 goals and 26 assists) in an exclusive 50 and over club dating back to Brentford’s promotion to the top tier.

There are (now!) only 20 players to reach a half-century of Premier League goal participations over this timeframe, just to underline how impressive an achievement this is.

Playmaker highlighted the Gunners' threat from set-pieces and Brentford's expertise at defending them prior to the contest, but - after Thomas Partey had put the hosts ahead from a lightning-fast break - it was Wissa and the Bees who struck from a dead ball.

Thomas Frank and his bench were clearly delighted by the way the Bees recycled a partially cleared corner to claim their 74th-minute equaliser.

Corner taker Mbeumo cleverly waited for a rampaging overlap from Michael Kayode down the right and, when the Fiorentina loanee's finessed cross was headed back across goal by Nathan Collins, Wissa pounced to score his 15th league goal of a prolific campaign.

Incredibly, Wissa (5) has now scored more goals from set-pieces than any other player in the division in 2024/25, and his quicksilver reactions and goal-scoring instincts mean only Newcastle's Alexander Isak (8) has been able to net more goals from inside the six-yard box than the DR Congo international (6).

What makes the 28-year-old's prowess from set-piece situations even more remarkable is that all 12 of Wissa's strikes last season were scored from open play.

Although Mbeumo remains the Bees' top scorer this season with 16 goals, it is worth pointing out that Wissa has scored more non-penalty goals than his sidekick.

In fact, only Erling Haaland (19), Mohamed Salah and Isak (both 18) have more Premier League goals this term excluding spot-kicks.

After his strike in north London, a 'really happy' Wissa spoke of his pride at scoring against 'one of the best teams in the world' and outlined his aim to hit even greater heights - and the data underlying his most prolific Premier League season underlines his status as one of the most dangerous strikers in the division.

Joint-seventh in the top flight for shots on target this term with 31, the forward has helped establish Brentford as the Premier League's sharpest shooters in 2024/25 - the Bees with a league-leading shot-on-target percentage of 39.2.

A goal roughly every five shots is great going from Wissa and the fact he has performed almost exactly in line with his xG illustrates that a) his present strike rate is sustainable and b) he is fantastic at sniffing out high-quality shooting opportunities.

Only four players (Haaland, Salah, Watkins and Isak) have a higher xG-per-shot than Wissa (0.59 xG) among players to play 2,000+ minutes this season, which only serves to emphasise how regularly he finds himself in good positions.

Sharp as a razor from free play and dead balls, Wissa's evolution from capable understudy to proven Premier League marksman has been extremely impressive, not to mention very timely for the Bees given Ivan Toney's departure and Igor Thiago's injury setbacks.