Merino Scores Again, Arsenal Have No Difficulty Beating Brentford

Midfielder Mikel Merino (red) scored a goal that gave Arsenal a 2-0 win over Brentford. (arsenal.com)

JAKARTA - Midfielder Mikel Merino returned to play the 'False 9' and helped Arsenal achieve a 2-0 easy win over Brentford in the English Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London, Thursday, December 4, 2025 in the morning WIB. A victory that widened Arsenal's points gap with Manchester City.

Man City overshadowed Arsenal after overcoming Fulham's resistance in a nine-goal drama. Man City's 5-4 win saw them close points with Arsenal.

However, Arsenal managed to get away from Man City's pursuit after meeting the three-point target while playing at home. Despite facing Brentford, one of the bottom-board teams never gave up, but the Gunners had no trouble defeating him.

This led Arsenal to carve an unbeaten record of 18 games in various competitions in Premier League title hunting for the first time since 2004. The result also made Arsenal pocket 33 points and they again lead five points from Man City who is in second place.

Meanwhile, Brentford is still struggling in the middle board but has received threats from the bottom teams. Failure to add points makes The Bees only have 19 points and rank 13.

In that match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta rotated the players because the team was about to enter a tight schedule in December. Merino, who is a midfielder, returned to the centre forward when the North London club lost Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.

Arteta also did not make Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber and Eberechi Eze a starter who had played a tough match against Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea. Meanwhile, Noni Madueke and Ben White, who had been forgotten so that the frequent sitting on the bench, became their first choice.

Arsenal Masters The Game

Despite appearing with different starting lines ups, Arsenal are still able to master the game. An aggressive attack from the hosts had met a deadlock as Brentford manager Keith Andrews placed five defenders.

This strategy did reduce the aggressiveness of Gabriel Martinelli et al. However, it was only temporary because Arsenal had managed to excel when the match entered the 11th minute. Merino, who returned to being a striker, managed to overcome the deadlock after completing White's assists,

The goal started with Madueke's heel bait that White received. He then let go of the cross ball and Merino ran to greet the ball with a header that beat goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelekera.

Winning 1-0 made Arsenal more aggressive in suppressing the Brentford defense. Madueke has the opportunity to add goals, but his shot can still be thwarted by his neck. Meanwhile, White's shot was still narrowly wide of goal.

Brentford actually still has a chance to equalize. Especially after the visitors got a chance through Kevin Schade when they met the corner. However, his header could be pushed over by goalkeeper David Raya.

No more goals were created so that the score 1-0 for Arsenal lasted until the first half was over.

In the second half, Arsenal maintained the tempo of the game. It's just that, they still have trouble breaking through Brentford's defense.

Arteta finally brought in Saka and Eze to improve the team's banging power. This strategy was indeed quite successful because Arsenal's attack became more lively.

They opened up their colleagues to threaten the opponent's goal. Including the brilliant Riccardo Calafiori kick which was thwarted by the neck. Furthermore, the Irish national team goalkeeper thwarted Declan Rice's hard kick and Merino's close-range shot.

After failing all, Arsenal's attack finally paid off when the match was over.

Saka broke the deadlock by beating his neckkel after finishing Merino's assist in injury time. The score changed 2-0 for Arsenal and lasted until the game was over.