'Very good timing!' — Arsenal's boys from Brazil prove there can be life without Saka 

Forwards Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli both scored – either side of a rare Mikel Merino strike — to secure a comeback win after Bryan Mbuemo had given an impressive Brentford side an early lead on their home ground where they nearly always win.

Saka, Arsenal’s so-called Starboy, is out with a hamstring injury until at least March and deprives Arteta of his most creative outlet. So the Spanish coach was delighted to see Nwaneri create both of Arsenal’s second half goals on top of a resoundingly assured first start at this level.

Arteta liked the narrative of starting him at the same ground his 17-year-old prodigy became the top flight’s youngest-ever player as a substitute when he was 15. 

“It was a decision I made because I thought he was the best player to play in the position to start the game and because there was a story there with his debut here. He made his Premier League debut and sometimes that feeling comes in and you feel it is the right one and then who knows?" Arteta explained.

"Part of that development is patience, managing frustration, managing expectation because you expect that everything is going to go so fast as the previous things happen and it’s not the case. So now we’re building him, he’s already played a lot of games, a lot of minutes for us, the age that he’s got and he fully deserves that.” 

Perhaps of more relief for Arsenal is the way Jesus and Martinelli are scoring again. Winger Martinelli has scored in three of his last four Premier League away appearances, more goals than his previous 26 on the road. Jesus has scored six goals in his last four festive fixtures – as many as he notched in his previous 48 appearances - at a time when his future at the club had ben called into question by some pundits.

Arteta observed: “Very good timing! Both of them are really important. It is a big quality of our team, to share the goals. Today we have done it again, scoring in three very different ways. That is what we need. The people up front have to be firing, with that feeling, and they are with that feeling right now. 

"They are so consistent in the way they train and behave. They want it. Goals are about moments as well, about the feeling and energy the player is in. They are in a good mood right now.” 

Injuries and a virus in the camp led to the Arsenal manager making four changes from the side that beat Ipswich last week, including no place in the squad for an ill Kai Havertz and a first start for Nwaneri. And what started as a wet, windy and worrying first away day of 2025 for the 1,700 or so travelling Arsenal supporters ended in joy unconfined.

Brentford had the best home record in the division alongside Liverpool coming onto the match and comfortably weathered early Arsenal domination to take the lead though Mbuemo after 13 minutes. 

Mikkel Damsgaard won possession in midfield following a sloppy pass by Martin Odegaard and played Mbuemo into space down the right. He had the recalled Riccardo Calafiori in close attendance, but the Italian defender could not get close enough as the Brentford forward easily cut inside to get off a low left-foot shot into the corner of David Raya’s net.

Arsenal, desperate for a win, looked worried. Right-back Jurrien Timber betrayed his frustration by picking up a booking for an over-the-top foul. He now misses Saturday’s match at Brighton with a one-match suspension.

Then, within a flash, Arsenal were level with 29 minutes on the clock. Thomas Partey cracked a stinging shot from distance and Brentford keeper Mark Flekken parried the ball down in front of him as Jesus threw himself at it to head in from close range.

Nwaneri came into his own after the break. Sending in the 50th and 53rd minute crosses hat led to Arsenal taking the lead and quickly doubling down on it. They were aided by the strange decision of Yoane Wissa to let the ball go off for a corner when he could easily have cleared the danger. And keeper Flekken was again found wanting when he struggled to clear Nwaneri’s cross back in as the ball bobbled to Merino to slam home from close range. Ten set-piece goals for Arsenal this season.

Nwaneri sent in another tantalising centre less than two minutes later, and Martinelli was on hand to take advantage of a poor clearance and score right-footed from 12 yards. That’s three in his last four away Premier League games for the much-maligned Brazil forward.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank was stoic, almost accepting of the nature of his side’s defeat. He commented: "If you want to beat Arsenal we need to do everything right. They are one of the best two teams in the country and showed that in the three decisive moments of the match. 

"I need to look more into how e defended their crosses and set pieces it, but they are very good at it and it's something we need to learn from. We played a top team and you cannot expect to just beat Arsenal, but we did very well and that's the performance."

Brentford: Flekken 5; Roerslev 6, Collins 6, van den Berg 5 (Ji-Soo 75), Lewis-Potter 6; Norgaard 6 (Jensen 75), Janelt 6; Mbeumo 6, Damsgaard 6 (Maghoma 75), Yarmoliuk 6; Wissa 5 (Schade, 75). Subs: Valdimarsson, Schade, Meghoma, Konak, Yogane, Arthur 

Arsenal: Raya 5, Timber 6, Saliba 6, Gabriel 7, Calafiori 6 (Lewis-Skelly 78), Partey 8, Merino 7 (Rice 78), Odegaard 6 (Jorginho 88), Martinelli 7, Nwaneri 8. (Trossard 78), Jesus 7. Subs: Neto. Kiwior, Tierney, Zinchenko, Kabia.

Ref: Peter Bankes 6 

Att: 17,190