Arsenal secured their place in the Carabao Cup fourth round as Reiss Nelson’s early goal clinched a battling 1-0 win over Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Nelson finished coolly in the eighth minute following a misplaced pass from Brentford defender Zanka, with Mikel Arteta’s much-changed team then holding off a second-half rally from the hosts.
The Bees went closest through Yoann Wissa, who saw a low strike brilliantly pushed onto the post by Aaron Ramsdale, back in goal for Arsenal for the first time since losing his place to David Raya.
Jakub Kiwior then pulled off a goal-line block from substitute Lewis Keane-Potter as Arsenal withstood more late Brentford pressure to ensure a winning response to their north London derby draw with Tottenham which sets up a trip to West Ham in the next round.
Arsenal got off to an ideal start when Zanka’s woeful backward pass allowed Eddie Nketiah to cut the ball back for Nelson, who found the bottom corner after Nathan Collins had failed to intercept.
The hosts struggled to shake off their early sluggishness and nearly fell further behind when Emile Smith Rowe, making his first start in 16 months, darted into the box having exchanged passes with Jorginho and saw a low shot well saved by Mark Flekken.
Arsenal continued to dominate possession but Brentford had an excellent chance to draw level when Christian Norgaard picked out Wissa in the centre of the Arsenal box, only for the striker to fire a rushed, first-time effort well wide.
Brentford improved as the first half wore on and that continued in the second as they pinned Arsenal in their own half, forcing a series of blocks from Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu before Ramsdale’s full-stretch save from Wissa.
Arteta sought to weather the storm by turning to experience on his bench, throwing on Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard, with young debutant Charles Sagoe Jr one of those to make way.
Arsenal threatened a second goal intermittently, with Nelson firing a low effort narrowly wide from a Kai Havertz cut-back and Eddie Nketiah seeing an angled shot charged down by Flekken.
But the visitors were mostly required to defend in the latter stages, with Ramsdale making another athletic save to stop Frank Onyeka’s long-range effort and Kiwior then pulling off his vital block from Lewis-Potter.
SkySports
