5 Facts and figures as Brentford embarrass Arsenal in Premier League opening day fixture

Newly promoted side, Brentford handed Arsenal their first dose of humiliation as they secured an impressive 2 nil win over Mikel Arteta’s side in the first match of the new Premier League season.

The home side started the match with an injection of aplomb and they didn’t wait too long to score the first goal of the night.

Sergi Canos, the 24-year-old Spanish midfielder gave the home side the lead as he buried a low drive into the bottom left corner after he received a delightful pass in the boss.

Arsenal had a couple of chances via teenage striker of Nigerian descent, Folarin Balogun, and Emile Smith-Rowe but Brentford’s goalkeeper, Dabid Raya stood his ground.

 

Brentford’s confidence, like a grain of mustard seed, grew and it brought forth fruit eventually as Danish midfielder, Christain Norgaard doubled the advantage for the Bees in the 73rd minute.

Arsenal’s pressure on the home side in the last fifteen minutes yielded no result as Brentford secures three points on their historic return to the Premier League.

Five Facts and Figures 

• Arsenal begins a league campaign with a defeat against newly-promoted opposition for the first time since 1976-77 against Bristol City at Highbury.
• Brentford will end tonight top of the English top-flight for the first time since September 1, 1946, a gap of 74 years & 346 days, the biggest ever gap for a club topping the top-flight, breaking Notts County’s record (58y 251d between December 1924 and August 1983).
• Arsenal will end tonight bottom of the Premier League for the first time since August 9th 2015, when they went bottom after losing 2-0 to West Ham United.
• Sergi Canós is the first Brentford player to score for the Bees in the top-flight since Len Townsend in May 1947 against Sunderland, 27,110 days ago.
• 22 – Arsenal had 22 shots without scoring against Brentford, their most without finding the net in a Premier League match since December 2017 against West Ham (also 22).

 

Stats via OptaJoe