(AP) — FC Brentford, England — Brentford stunned Arsenal 2-0 in the Premier League opener on Friday,
marking the club’s first season in the top level since 1947.
In front of almost 16,500 spectators at the Community Stadium, Sergi Canos put Brentford ahead in the
22nd minute and Christian Noergaard headed in the second in the 73rd minute when Arsenal failed to
deal with a long throw-in, giving the promoted team a perfect start to the game in the Premier League.
Those fans finally got to rejoice inside the stadium, which opened last year under a lockdown that
prevented spectators from attending games.
They’d been waiting for a moment like this for much longer.
Brentford’s last Premier League game was the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in May 1947.
For at least one night, the team is in first place in the league, ahead of the remainder of the weekend’s
games.
“That is something that no one who was here will ever forget. I’m honored to be a part of it “Thomas
Frank, the fc brentford manager, said. “I have such faith in this set of players that I knew if we didn’t defeat
Arsenal, a big club with fantastic players,
In the preseason opener versus Buffalo, these are four Detroit Lions to keep an eye on.
Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta had another poor performance and a shaky start.
Last season, the club finished ninth and showed little signs of having resolved its prior issues. Arsenal
failed to generate any sort of clear scoring opportunities despite controlling possession for parts of the
game, with forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette both absent – Arteta claimed
they were both feeling “unwell.”
How to watch Premier League: How to watch on TV and live stream, odds, Matchweek 1 schedule
Their defensive flaws were exposed once again.
Calum Chambers hacked the ball off the byline for Brentford, but it was returned to Canos by Ethan
Pinnock, who cut past the defender and buried a low effort inside Bernd Leno’s near post.
Arsenal’s defenders let a long ball from ‘ads Bech Sorensen bounce’ in the 6-yard box, where Norgaard
He came in the far corner to enter an empty net.
Folarin Balogun, an Arsenal youth striker, made his Premier League debut but was pulled off before the hour mark.
After being exposed to racial abuse after his penalty miss for England in the European
Championship final ‘defeat to Italy, he was substituted by Bukayo Saka, who received a standing ovation
from the Brentford supporters.
“I’m not going to make excuses. We have a team out there capable of achieving a different outcome,”
Arteta said. “We recognize that we need to improve.”
more /
Mailbag: How Likely Is a Michael Thomas Trade?
source /
