Reiss Nelson’s early goal was enough to settle Wednesday night's Carabao Cup tie at Gtech Community Stadium, as Arsenal advanced to the fourth round after a 1-0 win over Brentford.
Nelson capitalised on an unfortunate Zanka backpass to roll the Gunners ahead after just eight minutes.
The home side struggled to put the Arsenal goal under sustained pressure before the break, but it was a different story in the second half.
Aaron Ramsdale made two outstanding saves to deny Yoane Wissa and Frank Onyeka, while substitutes Saman Ghoddos and Keane Lewis-Potter both saw shots cleared off the line as the away side clung on to progress.
Arsenal take early lead at Gtech Community Stadium
Thomas Frank stuck largely with the team which hosted Everton in the Premier League four days ago; the two changes seeing Zanka and Onyeka replace Lewis-Potter and Mathias Jensen.
Arsenal made eight changes from their last Premier League outing - Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur. Ramsdale replaced David Raya in goal, with Emile Smith-Rowe, Jorginho, Nelson and Takehiro Tomiyasu among others to come in.
The away side dominated the ball in the early stages, looking to open up gaps in the Bees' three-man defensive line.
For all Arsenal's domination of possession, it was a Bees mistake which allowed them to take the lead after eight minutes. Zanka’s backpass, intended for Mark Flekken, was intercepted by Eddie Nketiah on the right angle of the box, he cut it across for an unmarked Nelson to pass it home from the penalty spot.
With their tails up, Arsenal made it hard for Brentford, moving the ball crisply around the Gtech pitch and forcing the Bees to do a lot of chasing.
Efforts for the home side came mainly on the break, with Wissa just failing to connect with Vitaly Janelt following Bryan Mbeumo’s surging run.
The German midfielder then connected sweetly with an effort from the edge of the box, only for it to bounce to safety off Takehiro Tomiyasu.
Despite the amount of defending they were being asked to do, Brentford stuck to their task manfully. Emile Smith-Rowe was denied, first by Ethan Pinnock’s body and then an outstretched Flekken leg; Nathan Collins made a block from Kai Havertz; and Pinnock timed his challenge perfectly to nip the ball away from Nketiah in the box.
Brentford’s best opening of the half fell to Wissa late on, but he swept Christian Norgaard’s cross wide from 15 yards.
Bees unlucky in dominant second-half display
If Arsenal had been on top in the first half, it was nothing compared to the Bees' domination of the second period.
An early Norgaard shot which unfortunately hit the offside Wissa signalled the Bees' intent.
Now it was Arsenal hemmed in their own half, struggling to get out, while Brentford, roared on by the home fans, sensed blood.
Onyeka shot wide from Norgaard’s cross and the impressive Aaron Hickey struck an effort into Ben White at close range.
At the other end, Nketiah’s effort, deflected away by the body of Pinnock, was Arsenal’s sole attacking contribution to the half's opening quarter hour.
The introduction of Jensen and Ghoddos just past the hour only increased the west Londoners' attacking threat. Ghoddos’s dipping volley was headed away to safety by Jakub Kiwior, before Ramsdale’s fingertips somehow managed to divert Wissa’s low shot onto the post following a Jensen cutback.
Those changes also saw the Bees commit more men forward, giving Arsenal space on the break. Nelson’s effort clipped the outside of the post on its way through, and Flekken stayed big to deny Nketiah at his near post as Mikel Arteta’s side tried to put the game to bed.
Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Mohamed Elneny and Oleksandr Zinchenko were all introduced by the away side to try and stem the tide of Brentford attacks to little effort.
Janelt lashed over the bar from the edge of the box and Ramsdale beat away Onyeka’s half-volley, both from Wissa assists.
Tomiyasu was then perfectly placed to clear Ghoddos’s shot out from under his own crossbar, before an even better sliding intervention from Kiwior somehow kept Lewis-Potter’s angled shot out after it had beaten Ramsdale. In between those chances, Zanka did put the ball in the net but the flag went up for offside against Collins.
With everyone, including Flekken, up for a late corner, Wissa headed into the arms of Ramsdale, before the Arsenal goal survived one final late scramble.
Jensen’s delightful cross was missed by Janelt and Mbeumo subsequently cracked the loose ball off the post, only to realise the flag had gone up for a foul.
Peter Bankes blew the final whistle before play could restart, with the Brentford crowd quick to show their appreciation for their team’s efforts.
Brentford: Flekken; Collins, Pinnock, Zanka (Ajer 82); Roerslev (Ghoddos 63), Onyeka (Lewis-Potter 79), Norgaard, (Jensen 63), Janelt, Hickey (Olakigbe 79); Mbeumo, Wissa
Subs not used: Strakosha, Balcombe, Yarmoliuk, Brierley
Arsenal: Ramsdale; White (Zinchenko 69), Gabriel, Kiwior, Tomiyasu; Jorginho, Havertz; Nelson (Elneny 82), Smith-Rowe (Odegaard 82), Sagoe Jr (Jesus 68); Nketiah (Cedric 87)
Subs not used: Hein, Sweet, Walters, Cozier-Duberry
Frank takes positives from Arsenal performance
Head coach Thomas Frank was pleased to see his side bounce back from a disappointing defeat to Everton on Saturday with a much-improved performance in the Carabao Cup.
“I asked for a bounce-back performance from the players, and they gave me that,” he said.
“The second half was top. We pushed Arsenal back, created a lot of good chances and were very unlucky not to score. The margins didn’t drop our way.
“I was very pleased with the performance and that’s what we need to continue with going into the game [against Nottingham Forest] on Sunday.”
Hickey enjoying more attacking freedom
Brentford defender Aaron Hickey admitted he is enjoying having more attacking freedom in his new role at left-back.
He recorded one key pass, two shots and three dribbles from the left-hand side - a position he has switched to since the injury to Rico Henry earlier this month.
"It's good to be back [on that side] because I used to be a left-back, so I’m just getting used to that in a different team and trying to build relationships on that side," he said.
When asked if he has enjoyed getting some more attacking license, he responded: “Yeah, especially tonight in the wing-back position, it allows me to get forward and that's what Thomas wanted. I’m just trying to do my best for the team.”