An early header from Mikel Merino and second-half stoppage-time strike from Bukayo Saka condemned Brentford to a 2-0 defeat against Premier League leaders Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

Kevin Schade came the closest to scoring for the Bees when his first-half header was saved onto the bar by David Raya.

Keith Andrews made five changes to the side who had beaten Burnley 3-1 at Gtech Community Stadium on the previous Saturday.

Kristoffer Ajer, Ethan Pinnock, Rico Henry, Vitaly Janelt and Yehor Yarmoliuk replaced Nathan Collins, Jordan Henderson, Mikkel Damsgaard, Igor Thiago and Aaron Hickey, with the former four named amongst the substitutes alongside Romelle Donovan, who was included in a Premier League matchday squad for the first time.

Arsenal took the lead with just over 10 minutes played. Following a sustained spell of possession, Ben White and Noni Madueke linked up well on the right wing, with the former clipping in a teasing cross from the byline that Merino headed down into the ground and past Caoimhín Kelleher from just inside the six-yard box.

Madueke had the Gunners' next chance himself. Quick feet from the England international saw him skip past Mathias Jensen and Henry before seeing a left-footed strike parried away.

Brentford were inches away from levelling the match 10 minutes after falling behind. Janelt's corner from the right side was met well by Schade, but former Bees keeper Raya produced a strong hand to tip his header onto the bar before the hosts cleared.

Mikel Arteta's side had a good opportunity to extend their advantage at the other end midway through the half. Again, it came from good play down the right side with Madueke, White and Riccardo Calafiori combining before Gabriel Martinelli blazed over from just inside the area.

A superb last-ditch challenge from Henry denied Madueke what would have been a certain goal on 37 minutes. Merino put Declan Rice in behind the Bees' backline, with his ball across the face of goal looking set to be tapped in before Henry's timely intervention.

A minute later, the Jamaica international frustrated the same man, stealing the ball off his toe after Cristhian Mosquera, who was forced off through injury just before half-time, had put him in one-on-one with Kelleher.

Brentford started the second half well, forcing a series of three corners in as many minutes, but Arsenal repelled the threat on each occasion.

With just under half an hour remaining, Andrews turned to his bench to introduce Damsgaard, Henderson and Thiago to the action.

Two smart Kelleher saves in quick succession kept the west Londoners in the game five minutes later, palming away long-range efforts from Calafiori and Rice.

A Michael Kayode long throw looked like it might be the Bees' route to an equaliser late in the 90 but Ajer's flick-on was too high for Sepp van den Berg to nod home.

Kelleher denied Calafiori from inside the area again at the other end a minute later, with the Republic of Ireland keeper scurrying across his goal to claim Bukayo Saka's scuffed effort on the rebound.

Saka did make sure of the three points for the hosts in the first of six minutes of stoppage-time. Arsenal countered at pace and, despite Kelleher getting a hand to it, the winger's left-footed strike found the back of the net.

Two substitutes combined for a half-chance in the dying moments but, after Damsgaard had found Keane Lewis-Potter, the latter's curled effort was high and wide of the top corner.

Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; White, Mosquera (Timber 44), Hincapié, Calafiori; Ødegaard, Zubimendi, Rice (Gyökeres 83); Madueke (Saka 61), Merino, Martinelli (Eze 61)

Subs: Arrizabalaga, Lewis-Skelly, Nørgaard, Nwaneri, Jesus

Brentford (5-3-2): Kelleher; Kayode, Ajer, van den Berg, Pinnock (Collins 74), Henry (Lewis-Potter 74); Janelt (Henderson 61), Yarmoliuk, Jensen (Damsgaard 61); Ouattara, Schade (Thiago 61)

Subs: Valdimarsson, Arthur, Onyeka, Donovan

Attendance: 60, 110

Andrews: We made it an uncomfortable evening for them

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews reflected on Wednesday night’s draw with Arsenal.

“The first goal goes in… I think we could have done a bit better with it, naturally,” he said.

“But they’re always going to put you under pressure and stress test your defence with the players they have and the movement.

“Apart from that, up until the second goal, they had one or two moments. We defended really, really well as a unit, we were proactive, we were front-footed, we took the game to them.

“The second half, we took the game to them, we grew into it, we caused them a lot of problems with the ball and how aggressive we were with our solid structure.

“Up until the second goal, we made it an uncomfortable evening for them.”

Ajer on Arsenal loss

Kristoffer Ajer shared his assessment of Brentford's 2-0 defeat against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

“We came here to press them and create difficulties, and I thought we did that for the most part," said the Norwegian defender.

“We travelled here with the ambition to take the three points, and I think we showed that during most of the game.

“We were front-footed and pressed high, but were also smart with how we defended with the quality that Arsenal have.

“When you get two or three big chances against a team like Arsenal, you simply have to score one of them."