Brentford 0-3 Arsenal: Ethan Nwaneri becomes youngest ever Premier League player as Gunners go top

Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri became the youngest ever Premier League player aged 15 years and 181 days as the Gunners defeated Brentford to return to the top of the table.

Arsenal's travelling fans greeted Nwaneri's appearance by singing: "School in the morning, he's got school in the morning."

William Saliba set Arsenal on their way to a sixth win in seven top-flight games this season after the France defender climbed high to head Bukayo Saka's corner in off the post.

It was 2-0 inside the opening half an hour as Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus, a £45m signing from Manchester City in July, headed Granit Xhaka's measured chip past David Raya for his fourth goal in Arsenal colours.

Portuguese midfielder Fabio Vieira capped a dominant Arsenal display by marking his first Premier League start since joining from Porto with a goal from 25 yards.

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• Nwaneri, 15, becomes youngest Premier League player

Brentford were unbeaten in their previous three games and could have climbed to fifth in the table with a win, but they rarely threatened as forward Ivan Toney, who has been called up by England for the first time, struggled for service.

Arsenal had started the weekend top of the table but dropped to third after Manchester City and Tottenham won on Saturday.

This win, however, put the Gunners on 18 points, one more than their nearest rivals before their next match against Spurs in the north London derby at Emirates Stadium on 1 October (12:30 BST).

Stylish Gunners show they mean business

Arsenal were bullied in the corresponding fixture last season and tamely went down 2-0 against newly promoted Brentford on the opening day of the 2021-22 campaign.

After that game, Brentford striker Toney made a slight dig at the Gunners by tweeting 'nice kick about with the boys', something Arsenal defender Gabriel was quick to revisit after Sunday's win.

A lot has changed since then and this is a very different Gunners team full of grit, determination and character.

After a first setback of the season at Manchester United in their previous Premier League game, all eyes were on how they would respond against a Brentford side that embarrassed United five weeks earlier.

Despite the absence of influential captain Martin Odegaard because of injury, they dominated from start to finish.

Gabriel Martinelli once again put in an eye-catching shift, Saliba was strong at the back while Saka, who also teed-up Vieira, finished with two assists as the Gunners swept to a third clean-sheet away win of the season.

Ben White, left out of the latest England squad, also played a key role while the margin of victory could have been more but for two fine saves by Raya at 3-0 to keep out Jesus and Saka.

Arsenal have not played in the Champions League since 2016-17.

There is still a long way to go, but the signs look promising for Arteta as Arsenal continue to build on a strong start and give their supporters hope they can qualify for European club football's most prestigious competition.

Brentford second best

There has been no sign of "second-season syndrome" at Brentford after heavy wins over Manchester United and Leeds.

However, they were distinctly second best against Arsenal yet go into the international break in the top half of the table.

There has been much to celebrate at the club over the past 18 months, not least Toney becoming the first Bees player to be called up by England's senior team since 1939.

Toney went closest to scoring for the hosts following a free-kick but Brentford were below par as they failed to score in the Premier League for the first time since 2 May.

Brentford have come so far in a short space of time but this was a day to forget.

Player of the match

Gabriel JesusGabriel Jesus

with an average of 8.53

• BrentfordBrentfordBrentford
• ArsenalArsenalArsenal

Brentford

Avg

1. Squad number1Player nameRaya

   Average rating

   5.49
2. Squad number2Player nameHickey

   Average rating

   5.25
3. Squad number17Player nameToney

   Average rating

   5.05
4. Squad number20Player nameAjer

   Average rating

   4.97
5. Squad number16Player nameMee

   Average rating

   4.77
6. Squad number18Player nameJansson

   Average rating

   4.71
7. Squad number3Player nameHenry

   Average rating

   4.71
8. Squad number27Player nameJanelt

   Average rating

   4.54
9. Squad number10Player nameDasilva

   Average rating

   4.51
10. Squad number19Player nameMbeumo

    Average rating

    4.48
11. Squad number8Player nameJensen

    Average rating

    4.45
12. Squad number24Player nameDamsgaard

    Average rating

    4.33
13. Squad number26Player nameBaptiste

    Average rating

    4.28
14. Squad number11Player nameWissa

    Average rating

    4.05
15. Squad number15Player nameOnyeka

    Average rating

    3.98

Arsenal

Avg

1. Squad number9Player nameGabriel Jesus

   Average rating

   8.53
2. Squad number12Player nameSaliba

   Average rating

   8.43
3. Squad number34Player nameXhaka

   Average rating

   8.34
4. Squad number83Player nameNwaneri

   Average rating

   8.29
5. Squad number21Player nameFábio Vieira

   Average rating

   8.17
6. Squad number11Player nameGabriel Martinelli

   Average rating

   8.12
7. Squad number7Player nameSaka

   Average rating

   8.10
8. Squad number3Player nameTierney

   Average rating

   8.08
9. Squad number6Player nameGabriel Magalhães

   Average rating

   7.93
10. Squad number4Player nameWhite

    Average rating

    7.93
11. Squad number5Player namePartey

    Average rating

    7.79
12. Squad number1Player nameRamsdale

    Average rating

    7.56
13. Squad number14Player nameNketiah

    Average rating

    7.33
14. Squad number18Player nameTomiyasu

    Average rating

    7.23
15. Squad number23Player nameSambi Lokonga

    Average rating

    7.14
16. Squad number27Player nameMarquinhos

    Average rating

    7.09

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