'What a disgrace': Fans rage over 'horrific' Premier League farce
Brentford have marked their first game in the Premier League in 74 years with an incredible upset 2-0 victory over a ragged Arsenal side.
Sergi Canos gave the west London club the dream start on Friday when he cut inside Calum Chambers and drilled a low shot past Bernd Leno after 22 minutes.
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The goal sparked an explosion of joy from fans in attendance who had waited so long to take their place in the new 17,500-capacity home.
Revelling in their chance to take on the big boys, Brentford took the game to an Arsenal team who looked disjointed and toothless in the absence of "unwell" strike duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.
Some hesitant Arsenal defending after a long throw in the 73rd minute allowed Christian Norgaard to head home the second and Brentford, the team who suffered an agonising nine playoff failures before finally succeeding last season, were in dreamland.
Their fans filed off into the night singing "we are top of the league" and though they are unlikely to stay there for long, nobody can begrudge them their moment.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank praised his side's bravery and said they deserved to revel in their opening win.
"I'm a little bit speechless because it's the first time in the top flight - we are opening the Premier League season and all our fans can dream, we are number one in the Premier League and it is a fantastic story," said Frank.
"I think the players today were amazing, they ran themselves into the ground and they played with great intensity and were brave to press high.
"Today they deserve the praise and to celebrate a bit. It's been a hard preseason and it's been planned to have two days off because they well deserve to get a little bit of rest."
Arsenal under fire over 'horrific' defending
Canos, who will go into the history books as Brentford's first Premier League goalscorer, said his side deserved their win due to their "brave" approach.
"I've been dreaming about scoring the first goal and all these people deserve it," Canos told Sky Sports.
"It is a great three points in the first game of the season, and we go again next week.
"It is a fantastic moment for me and my family. I brought my family all the way from Spain, and it is amazing - a step forward."
The blowtorch was immediately placed on Arsenal following the shock loss, with fans and commentators taking aim at the Premier League giants.
βHow would you describe Arsenalβs defending here? Itβs just Arsenal. Weak, pathetic, bullied. Itβs men against boys,β Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports.
βNew season, same old story.β
That is horrific defending, every season same thing from Arsenal, so bad
β Darren Farley (@DFImpressionist) August 13, 2021
A Β£50m defender bullied, Chambers starting, Nelson sent on and weak at a set-piece. Itβs as if Arsenal are being deliberately egregious for the Amazon cameras.
β Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) August 13, 2021
Arsenal are horrific they need an entire new defence for the tenth year in a row
β Ω (@KopReformed) August 13, 2021
Omg horrific defending. With Arsenal, it's new season but same old story. π #BREARS
β Shramina Shrestha βοΈπ± (@_shramina_) August 13, 2021
what a disgrace @m8arteta is to @Arsenal, if everything looks half-baked on #matchday1 what will happen in the course of the season.?!#Artetaout pic.twitter.com/ILK56ZIy6v
β ππ (@wahbdee) August 13, 2021
Well. Another disappointing Arsenal match. What a disgrace.
β Al Killingsworth (@AKills12) August 13, 2021
After finishing eighth in each of his first two seasons in charge, Mikel Arteta was under pressure before the season even began to show signs of a major improvement.
The Spaniard has a daunting task to turn things around before the September international break with title favourites Chelsea and Manchester City to come in Arsenalβs next two games.
with agencies
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