Bees draw Gunners' sting to claim point | OneFootball

Yoane Wissa scored an athletic close range volley to earn Brentford a point against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The DR Congo forward swivelled in the six yard box to turn Nathan Collins' header past former Brentford keeper David Raya late in the second-half to level the scores after Thomas Partey had given the hosts the lead after a rapid counter-attack.

Overall, it was a subdued performance from Mikel Arteta's Gunners after their midweek heroics against Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Arteta made five changes to the side that produced a commanding 3-0 victory over Los Blancos and the match lacked rhythm and intensity from the outset.

It wasn’t until the 20th minute that either side registered a shot on target, with Kristoffer Ajer’s effort comfortably saved by David Raya after a smart pass from Bryan Mbeumo opened up the Arsenal defence.

The Gunners thought they had broken the deadlock shortly after, when Kieran Tierney headed home Ethan Nwaneri’s cross. However, the goal was disallowed following a VAR review, which confirmed Tierney had strayed clearly offside.

Leandro Trossard came closest for the Gunners before the interval, but his low strike was pushed away by Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

The breakthrough eventually came on 61 minutes when Partey finished emphatically after a driving run from Declan Rice, who carried the ball deep from his own half before laying it off for the Ghanaian to power a shot past Flekken.

Brentford responded 13 minutes later, however. After a partially cleared corner was recycled, Nathan Collins nodded a high ball back into the box and Wissa showed quick reactions to steer his finish past Raya for the equaliser.

The result leaves Arsenal 10 points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool. Attention now turns to their Champions League quarter-final second leg in Madrid on Wednesday.