Arsenal not looking to sign despite horror start

LONDON • Arsenal will not re-evaluate their transfer plans after Friday's Premier League season-opening 2-0 defeat by Brentford, said manager Mikel Arteta, who insisted he is focused on improving his current squad.

Arsenal lost after Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard scored a goal each as Brentford celebrated their return to the top flight after a 74-year absence.

Arsenal were blunt without the attacking duo of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang due to illness, but Arteta said the team were good enough to achieve a different result.

"My focus is on the players that we have - to make them play as well as possible and get the best out of the team, finding the way to win football matches," he said when asked if the defeat creates an urgency to sign more players.

"We are very clear of what we wanted to do, what our strengths are and where we can improve."

Arsenal, who finished eighth last season, have signed defenders Ben White and Nuno Tavares along with midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga, but have yet to add fresh attacking firepower.

The Gunners also suffered under the relentless pressing Brentford, nicknamed "The Bees", became famous for in the Championship.

After the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions, Friday's match was the first time since March last year that clubs could fill their stadiums and, for Brentford fans, that meant a first chance to watch their team in their new 17,500-capacity home.

What was once such a normal sight in so many towns and cities up and down the country seemed like some sort of time warp, as fans clad in their club colours gathered to watch the season opener.

The Brentford Community Stadium, built on the site of a scruffy industrial estate, is shared with Premiership rugby club London Irish and it becomes the 60th stadium to host a Premier League game.

Brentford are the 50th team to play in the Premier League since it was formed in 1992.

Shots by Arsenal, equalling their highest tally without scoring in a Premier League match since December 2017 against West Ham.

27,110

Sergi Canos is the first player to score for Brentford in the top flight since Len Townsend in May 1947, against Sunderland, 27,110 days ago.

1976

Arsenal have lost to a newly promoted side in their opening league match for for the first time since 1976-77, against Bristol City at Highbury.

Almost every one of the fans in it - bar the few hundred Arsenal supporters squeezed into a corner - gave a full-throated rendition of their adapted Beatles anthem, with the "Hey Jude" chorus replaced by "Brentford" and the stage was set.

Their illustrious opponents are the team with the longest unbroken presence in the top flight - they have been there since 1919 - but this was Brentford's night, and their coach Thomas Frank enjoyed every moment of it.

"I think we top-performed," he said. "And that was more than a 10/10 performance in terms of atmosphere. If there was only one Man of the Match, it's the fans. They were amazing.

"I'm a bit speechless. First time in the top flight, we're opening the Premier League season, fans can dream we're No. 1 in the league. It's a fantastic story.

"We're just a bus stop in Hounslow, we're not supposed to be here.

"We will celebrate every win, but we want more."

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE