Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed that a sickness bug wreaked havoc on his squad's preparations for their triumphant clash against Brentford - and that Kai Havertz had to be sent home.
The Gunners secured a 3-1 victory at the Gtech Community Stadium, propelling them to second place in the Premier League standings. Despite a bout of illness, Arsenal managed to close the gap with leaders Liverpool, keeping their title aspirations very much alive.
Arteta disclosed that several players were hit by the virus just before the match, with Havertz being sent home due to obvious symptoms and Declan Rice starting unexpectedly from the bench.
Skipper Martin Odegaard was also rumoured to be affected but managed to play until he was substituted in the second half.
"It affected players on the pitch and off the pitch," Arteta commented on the impact of the illness. "It is nothing serious. But it wasn’t the ideal situation.
"In relation to the symptoms, with Kai it was obvious. He wasn’t feeling well at all. He had very clear symptoms so stay away from it, put him in a car, and go back to London."
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The Arsenal manager added: "These things happen. In this period, there are always things thrown at you, infections, viruses, so I try to delay the line-up as late as possible because you can get up in the morning and unfortunately have a surprise like this."
With hopes high that the virus will subside before Saturday's game against Brighton, Arteta faces another challenge as key player Bukayo Saka is sidelined for two months.
Arteta was all smiles as his team rallied from a goal down to clinch a thrilling victory over Brentford, crediting composure and emotional steadiness for the Gunners' comeback.
Trouble began early when Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo netted just 13 minutes in, but Keane Lewis-Potter's tame effort nearly doubled the host's advantage had it not been for David Raya’s desperate save on the line.
Reflecting on that moment, Arteta quipped: "Hopefully that the watch doesn’t vibrate." Discussing the near-miss, he admitted: "It was an unusual action from David. But it happens and we were lucky that the goal didn’t go in because it could have changed the game."
Mikel Merino turned the tables with a lead-grabbing goal at the 50-minute mark before Gabriel Martinelli widened the gulf with a third goal, much to the delight of Arsenal fans.
Meanwhile, 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri made his mark with his first Premier League start, contributing to both goals.
Praising Nwaneri, Arteta remarked: "We went a goal down so it becomes a big mountain to climb, but the team showed composure and they were emotionally very calm. We deserved to win the game."
The Arsenal boss also highlighted the squad's resilience despite "a little issue" referring to a bug, and lauded Nwaneri's courage and determination, saying: "In that position it wasn’t because of the bug but because he was the best player in that position to start the game."
Arteta closed with a nod to history and good fortunes: "He made his debut here (against Brentford in 2023) and then today he made his full Premier League debut. Sometimes that feeling comes in and you feel it is the right one."
Thomas Frank, the Bees manager, wasn't discouraged despite Brentford lingering at 12th, asserting: "I go into every game and I believe we can win and the way the team played today they showed they believe, too.
"But we are competing against a team that is fighting for the title so it is not a massive surprise we lost today. Hopefully we can get better and improve and I am confident we will win games."
