Arsenal 1-1 Brentford: Gunners miss out on the chance to go EIGHT POINTS clear of Man City

It is a measure of just how quickly tides can turn and how fragility lingers beneath any lead: by the time the final whistle goes here, on Wednesday night, Arsenal could sit second in the Premier League. Manchester City are the visitors then – time to clear the calendar, folks. Should Pep Guardiola’s side beat Aston Villa today (SUNDAY), will they pass up another opportunity to haul Arsenal in?

Whatever happens, City will do well to cause Arsenal as many problems as Brentford did here.

This will feel like two points dropped, of course. Because Mikel Arteta’s side overcame an – another? – ordinary performance to lead briefly through Leandro Trossard’s first goal since arriving from Brighton. And because Arsenal felt Ivan Toney’s equaliser, with 16 minutes left, should have been ruled out for offside. Twice.

The officials – and Thomas Frank – disagreed but no one can dispute: parity was the least the visitors deserved. Toney had been a menace all afternoon and so had Brentford – they soaked up wave after wave of Arsenal possession and created a half-dozen glorious opportunities.

Toney was guilty of missing a couple. Rico Henry erred, too, while at the other end, Arsenal found mostly crossed wires and brick walls until a familiar combination – Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka and Ben White – put the ball on a plate for Trossard at the back post.

Leandro Trossard came off the bench to open his account for Arsenal within four minutes of entering the action

Arsenal could not hold onto their lead against Brentford as they drew following a loss last time out against Everton

Alas, the relief and the glee soon dissipated. They still sung about being top of the league – which is true. But Arsenal have now gone three games without a win in all competitions. With City up next, backsides are beginning to squeak and tempers are flaring – late on here both benches and sets of players clashed.

Arsenal’s lead remains six points, their recent record reads one defeat in 15 league matches. Hardly cause for panic, is it? And yet performances are beginning to wane. Arsenal have dropped points in two of their past three home games. The last three league goals they have conceded have all come from set pieces. City’s superior goal difference counts for another point.

Defeat at Everton last week went unpunished. Over to you, Pep.

‘You need to be excellent in everything you do in the matches and you need certain decisions to go in your favour as well,’ Arteta said.

‘I think it was a really strong performance. I think we had moments. They are a really tricky team to play against so credit to them.’

Brentford are now 10 league games without defeat and knocking on the door of the European places. They have taken 12 points from the Big Six this season and Arsenal remain the only team to win at their place – that 3-0 win in September was among several early signals that something special was building.

No one provided much counterevidence, to temper those swelling expectations, until recent defeats by City and Everton.

Several crucial players have begun to look fallible once more and the natural fear is City won’t pass up the kind of opportunities squandered by Brentford.

Henry skewed the ball wide from close range. Toney hit the bar. Bryan Mbeumo raced through for referee Peter Bankes to blow for a foul. His apparent crime? Being near Gabriel when the Brazilian slipped over.

By the time Ben Mee had a free header blocked, murmurings of frustration had begun to ripple around the Emirates.

Arsenal dominated the ball but Toney, locked in a brilliant tussle with William Saliba, was causing problems. Brentford’s three centre backs were happy to force Arsenal wide. And Mikel Arteta’s side seemed lack conviction. No wonder the cameras panned to Gabriel Jesus, wrapped up against the cold. How they could have done with his ability to unpick stubborn back lines.

There were glimpses of fluency and Arsenal emerged after half-time with extra bite, too. Eddie Nketiah set the tone: his unselfish work created a chance for Odegaard, his tireless pressing prompted Arteta to whip up the crowd. And yet the clearest chances continued to fall Brentford’s way – Toney stroked the ball wide from the edge of the box.

Ivan Toney’s shot in the first half rattled the crossbar and perhaps should have put the visitors ahead early on

Next for the Gunners is a match against champions Manchester City that could leave them in second place in the league on goal difference

It was for days like this that Arsenal went hard at the January window. The fear that they lack sufficient reserves has stalked Arteta throughout this unlikely title charge – certainly when compared to their rivals and their stockpiles of talent.

And how smart that business looked when Trossard – signed for £21million from Brighton – broke Brentford’s resistance.

Within eight minutes however, the mood had shifted once more. From a free kick to the back post, Toney volleyed the ball across goal. It was kept alive and eventually hooked back the striker’s way by Christian Norgaard. He could not miss this time.

VAR had a look: goal. No wonder Toney’s face broke into a wide smile when he was substituted shortly before the end. No wonder abuse rained down from the stands. This could prove the start of a pivotal few days for Arsenal. For Brentford, yet more cause to dream

‘I said to the players before the game that we needed our best performance because Arsenal have been so good. We got very close to that,’ Frank said.

‘You can’t celebrate a point – no matter who you are facing. But we can celebrate a very good performance. It was more than well deserved.’ Hear hear.

Arsenal had won their last 10 home league games when scoring first before Toney’s late header from a few yards out 

Toney held up a shirt in tribute to former team-mate Sergi Canos – who left the club in January – after scoring his goal

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The match came to a tense close after a poor tackle on Oleksandr Zinchenko in his own box sparked a melee in the dying embers