Brentford's early lead no issue for Arsenal as they hit back for comfortable win
Brentford (1) 1 Mbeumo 13
Arsenal (1) 3 Jesus 29, Merino 50, Martinelli 53
Arsenal got the win they badly needed to keep up some sort of pressure on runaway leaders Liverpool as they recovered from conceding a sloppy goal to claim all three points.
Gabriel Jesus maintained his rich vein of form with the first to cancel out Bryan Mbeumo's opener and a quickfire double from Mikel Merino and Gaby Martinelli put the Gunners firmly in command at the start of the second half.
The gap at the top is now six points, though Liverpool have that game in hand still - the postponed Merseyside derby.
Mikel Arteta's men are now unbeaten in 12 and the Gunners boss will be pleased his side did well without the injured Bukayo Saka, who is likely to be out for a couple of months with that hamstring injury.
For Thomas Frank's men, it was a sobering reminder that a hitherto excellent home record has been founded on playing mostly teams in the lower reaches of the Premier League. Coming to the Gtech soon are Man City and Liverpool to further test that impressive batch of results in west London.
But considering the injuries - and the absence of Ethan Pinnock among others - and the fact Keane Lewis-Potter had to take up a less familiar left back role, this can hardly be seen as a disaster.
The Bees massed behind the ball at the start and watched Arsenal pass it around before escaping and pouncing in their very first attack of the evening.
Mikkel Damsgaard led the break out and found the ever-willing Mbeumo on the right. The winger cut inside Riccardo Califiori too easily and drilled past a flat-footed David Raya.
Raya, making his first appearance back at his old club since upgrading from loan player to permanent signing, will be mightily disappointed to have been suckered at his near post like that.
It almost got worse for the keeper too, when he allowed a shot from Keane Lewis-Potter to squirm through his hands and did well to back-peddle and scoop off the line just in time.
That served as a wake-up call for the Gunners and they drew level moments later when Jesus snaffled a rebound to head in after Mark Flekken had palmed a Thomas Partey shot into space.
Nothing less than a win would do for Arsenal if they are to stand any chance of eating into Liverpool's lead at the top and they seized control with two quick goals after the turn around.
The first came from another of those famous corners - Merino slamming home from close in after Flekken had flapped at an Ethan Nwaneri corner and a first shot had been blocked.
Then Martinelli profited from a Nathan Collins header that failed to clear the danger after Nwaneri had crossed into the six yard box.
After that, it was all about game management and a quiet truce. Quadruple subs for the Bees, treble subs for Arsenal, which only made the game feel like it was winding down long before the end.
After the trip to Brighton at the weekend, the Gunners have five home games in a row. A busy schedule lies ahead. The Bees have three at home themselves after Saturday's trek to Southampton.
Bees: (4-3-1-2) Flekken - Roerslev, van den Berg (Kim 75), Collins, Lewis-Potter - Yarmoliuk, Norgaard (Jensen 75), Janelt - Damsgaard (Maghoma 75) - Mbeumo, Wissa (Schade 75)
Gunners: (4-3-3) Raya - Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori (Lewis-Skelly 78) - Odegaard (Jorginho 88), Partey, Merino (Rice 78) - Nwaneri (Trossard 78), Jesus (Zinchenko 90), Martinelli
Attendance: 17,190
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