Arsenal join exclusive Premier League club with Brentford victory

The Gunners welcomed the Bees to the Emirates in the knowledge that they would rise to the top of the table with all three points before Liverpool and Manchester City squared off in Sunday's mouthwatering showpiece.

Mikel Arteta's men also had a slice of vengeance on their minds, having been the victims of an incorrectly allowed equaliser in last year's 1-1 draw with Brentford, whom they had already beaten 1-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium in the Premier League and EFL Cup this season.

On the back of scoring 31 goals in their opening seven Premier League games of 2024, Arsenal began their bid for another emphatic success in perfect fashion, as Declan Rice headed home from Ben White's delivery for his sixth top-flight strike of the season.

Fans began to vacate their seats as the interval approached, but deep into first-half injury time, Aaron Ramsdale - starting over the ineligible David Raya - took too long to clear the ball and was charged down by Yoane Wissa, whose endeavours were rewarded with a Brentford leveller.

Arsenal's efforts to regain their slender lead in the second half were often unfruitful, and Brentford fashioned two promising openings of their own, but Ramsdale made amends for his first-half mistake with two top saves to deny Ivan Toney and Nathan Collins.

However, with 86 minutes on the board, another pinpoint White delivery was on the money for Kai Havertz, whose header flew into the roof of the net off of Mark Flekken's palm to send Arsenal to the summit.

As well as reclaiming their Premier League perch, the Gunners' three-point haul means that they are only the fourth team in the history of the competition to win each of their first eight games of a calendar year.

The Manchester United team of 2008-09 were the first side to do so en route to their third successive crown, while Liverpool also managed the feat during their triumphant and COVID-19-affected 2019-20 season.

One year later, Man City also began 2021 with 13 straight wins in the Premier League, meaning that every previous team to have prevailed in their first eight games of the calendar year in the competition has gone on to lift the trophy.

With a one-point buffer to Liverpool and two-point advantage over Man City, Arsenal will remain in first place by the close of play this weekend if their two title rivals play out a stalemate on Sunday afternoon.

Asked in his post-game press conference what the secret was to winning eight Premier League games in a row, Arteta once again highlighted his side's yearning for "more" and never being fully satisfied with their displays.

"There's a lot of qualities that you need to win that many games in this league and manner in which we have done it, but it is about consistency as you've mentioned, and not being satisfied and willing to do more, and as well having the qualities to gain in different context because every game is going to require different process, different story and the team showed a different one today," the Spaniard said.

Arteta also hailed Ramsdale's "amazing" reaction to his first-half nightmare, but his counterpart Thomas Frank claimed that Havertz should have been sent off before converting his late winner.

The Gunners now turn their attention to Tuesday's Champions League last-16 second leg against Porto, who arrive at the Emirates with a 1-0 lead to protect from the first leg three weeks ago.