EPL

Arsenal 2-1 Brentford: Smith Rowe and Saka nudge Arsenal closer to top four

By Sports Desk February 19, 2022

Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka were on target as Arsenal made it back-to-back Premier League wins with a 2-1 success over Brentford.

Smith Rowe took his tally for the season to 10 in all competitions with a fine individual effort in the 48th minute at Emirates Stadium.

And Saka secured the points for Mikel Arteta’s side when he drilled home with 11 minutes remaining, before Christian Norgaard's consolation in the dying moments.

While the Gunners remain sixth in the table, they closed the gap on fourth-placed Manchester United to a single point and still have two games in hand.

Arsenal, unbeaten in their previous 32 home Premier League games against promoted sides, dominated from the start, with Saka's deflected strike testing David Raya before Alexandre Lacazette rounded off a neat move, only to be denied an opener by the offside flag.

Martin Odegaard had a shot blocked and Ben White volleyed at Raya as the hosts enjoyed 80.1 per cent of the possession during the first half, but a goal eluded them.

However, the breakthrough did arrive three minutes after the restart. Lacazette found Smith Rowe, who cut inside from the left before sweeping a low shot into the far corner.

Raya got down well to keep out Saka from distance as Arsenal went in search of a second, while the Spaniard also produced smart reflexes to deny Odegaard following Pontus Jansson's loose header.

But Raya was powerless as the Gunners put the result beyond doubt – Thomas Partey feeding Saka, who arrowed a powerful shot in off the far post.

Brentford pulled one back through Norgaard deep into stoppage time; the Denmark international becoming only the second player for a promoted club to score home and away against Arsenal, but it was always likely to prove a consolation.

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    Juventus climbed to third place in Serie A following a 2-0 victory over rivals Torino at the Allianz Stadium.

    A goal in either half from Timothy Weah and Kenan Yildiz settled the Derby della Mole, and saw Thiago Motta's side extend their unbeaten start to the league season.

    The Bianconeri broke through in the 18th minute when Vanja Milinkovic-Savic spilt a shot straight to Weah, who made no mistake from close range.

    Weah thought he had doubled the lead in the 72nd minute, but the USA international was penalised for handball in the build-up to the opportunity.

    However, Juve did put the contest to bed six minutes from time, when Yildiz nodded in Francisco Conceicao's deep cross at the far post.

    Extending their unbeaten streak against Torino to 18 matches, Motta's side moved to within a point of Serie A leaders Napoli.

    Data Debrief: Bianconeri extend unbeaten start with yet another clean sheet

    Juventus have now registered nine clean sheets in Serie A this season, the most by any team in the big five European leagues.

    Weah got the ball rolling, as he became the second American after Weston McKennie in December 2020 to score for the Bianconeri against Torino in Serie A.

    Yildiz then sealed the victory. The 19-year-old became the third-youngest Juventus player to find the net in the Derby della Mole, after Felice Placido Borel (18 years and 243 days in 1932) and Bruno Nicole (18 years and 244 days in 1958).

    Meanwhile, Torino have now suffered three successive defeats without scoring in Serie A for the first time since 2014.

  • Bournemouth deserved to topple Brentford in thriller, claims Iraola Bournemouth deserved to topple Brentford in thriller, claims Iraola

    Andoni Iraola was insistent that Bournemouth "didn't deserve to lose" as a 3-2 defeat at Brentford saw them travel back to the south coast with nothing to show for a decent performance.

    Bournemouth had taken the lead twice, first through Evanilson and then Justin Kluivert, but could not hold on either time.

    Yoane Wissa's brace and a goal from Mikkel Damsgaard handed Brentford the three points, as the Bees bounced back from their late capitulation to Fulham on Monday.

    Iraola's team had the better of the chances, creating 2.6 expected goals (xG) to Brentford's 1.5, and the Spaniard felt the result was not a reflection of Bournemouth's display.

    "I don't think we deserved to lose today. I think we were better for most of the game. Probably, they've been more efficient than us in the key moments, and they've made the difference," Iraola told BBC Radio Solent.

    "We had very, very clear chances to score. We played really well again. The problem is when you lose, people always say, 'No, but you lost.' Against Everton [a 3-2 win in August], we played much worse, but we won, and it looks much different.

    "Overall, we've been the better team, especially in the first half. I was very happy with the performance in the first half.

    "We hit the crossbar at the end, and I think there was a clear penalty to Evanilson to score and make it 3-3, but we couldn’t do it."

    Bournemouth's Brazilian striker Evanilson netted his third goal in as many games, making him the first Bournemouth player to score in three successive league games since Dominic Solanke in December last year.

    Evanilson had shouts for a penalty denied on the hour mark after it appeared Ethan Pinnock had caught his leg, and Iraola was not satisfied with the explanation he received from the officials.

    "They tell us he kicks himself, but he kicks himself because he was kicked. To me, it is very clear and obvious, but to them, they don't think so," he explained.

    Thomas Frank concurred with Iraola's assessment of the visitor's strong first-half performance but praised his side's fightback.

    "The bounce-back mentality was unbelievably good. Maybe even more impressive than if we had won 3-0 because we actually played badly in the first 20 minutes. Bournemouth were better than us," he told Sky Sports.

    "We gave them clearly the first goal and then one or two other chances. But after that goal we stepped up and we found some of that great bounce-back mentality."

    While Brentford are scoring plenty, they have shipped 12 goals in their last five games, though Frank is keen to focus on the positives.

    "The positive is that we are a very dangerous team going forward," he said.

    "We must be up there [as a team that's scored the most goals]. That is incredible. We are Brentford. I think that is insanely good. I think people don't understand how good it is.

    "But of course, I am also very ambitious and I would love us to win 3-0 today."

  • Crystal Palace 0-2 Fulham: Smith Rowe and Wilson send Silva's side up to sixth Crystal Palace 0-2 Fulham: Smith Rowe and Wilson send Silva's side up to sixth

    Emile Smith Rowe and Harry Wilson were on target in either half as Fulham triumphed 2-0 over 10-man Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

    Smith Rowe broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage time, taking Raul Jimenez's pass into his stride before finishing past Dean Henderson.

    Fulham forward Smith Rowe had another goal ruled out in the second half for offside, before Daichi Kamada's 76th-minute red card for a poor challenge on Kenny Tete made matters worse for the hosts.

    Wilson, the two-goal hero against Brentford on Monday, made sure of all three points with seven minutes remaining, latching onto Alex Iwobi's superb throughball and slotting home.

    The Wales international saw another late strike overturned for handball, but another London derby victory moved Marco Silva's side up to sixth place and saw them join a cluster of sides on 18 points.

    Meanwhile, Palace's sixth league defeat of the season leaves them 17th and just a point clear of the relegation zone heading into the international break.

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    Fulham have now kept a clean sheet in each of their last four away league games against Palace, not going longer without conceding against a single opponent on the road.

    Now unbeaten in seven Premier League London derbies, the Cottagers are now on their joint-longest run without defeat in such matches.

    Wilson sealed the victory with his third goal as a substitute in the space of a week. Only Collins John (four) has netted more times as a substitute for Fulham in a single season than the Wales international.

    A difficult day for Palace was worsened by Kamada's dismissal. Three of the Eagles' last six Premier League red cards have come against the Cottagers, against no other side have they seen more.

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