Kai Havertz tops latest winner as Arsenal go top with win over Brentford | first division

When Kai Havertz's final header hit the back of the net, the palpable sense of relief in the red half of north London was felt no stronger than the lone man inside the goal. Arsenal half.

For much of this game, Aaron Ramsdale seemed to have single-handedly cost his team first division first place with a mistake of epic proportions. But, while fear ran through the Emirates stands with each passing minute, Arsenal scored a decisive goal.

With Liverpool meeting Manchester City on Sunday afternoon, it was a victory that could yet prove decisive in the fate of the title in a couple of months. An eighth consecutive league victory and none more desperate, close or important.

It was only courtesy of fortuitous loan regulations that lower-ranked Ramsdale even earned what was only their second Premier League start since early September; The other also came against it. Brentford when loanee David Raya was unable to face his parent club.

The disgraced goalkeeper is said to have been desperate for attention as he ponders a likely future away from the Emirates. There was no doubt that he did it, but in the worst way possible.

Arsenal had been so dominant in almost every shot in the first half that the 1-0 score they achieved in the final minute of first-half stoppage time was barely a reflection of the gulf between the two teams. However, just as the referee was contemplating ending proceedings, Ramsdale made a mistake that will surely end any hope of resurrecting his Arsenal career.

With no pressure as Gabriel returned the ball, Ramsdale's first touch was enough to select the target of his choice. If only the speed of his thought process had been in sync with his right foot.

The Arsenal goalkeeper paid the ultimate price for holding on to the ball for an unfathomable amount of time, allowing the tenacious Yoane Wissa to dive in front of his eventual long-delayed clearance. As the ball bounced toward his goal, Ramsdale had a moment to reflect on the cost of his mistake as he watched it sail into the empty net. “You suck, David Raya,” chanted the exultant traveling fans.

The west Londoners had remained silent throughout the first period, in which they were fortunate not to see their team fall further than a single goal deficit.

Crippled by injuries that blighted his campaign, Thomas Frank had decided on his own to replace Sergio Reguilón in the starting XI that had struggled to a 2-2 draw against Chelsea last weekend. So intense were most of Arsenal's fluid attacking exploits that the Spaniard could have been forgiven for showing an element of gratitude for the hamstring injury that ruled him out of participation.

Keane Lewis-Potter, Reguilón's unfortunate replacement, was given the unfortunate task of trying to stop Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and Ben White, whose joy on the right was evident from the start.

That Arsenal had broken a short-lived deadlock with a goal created by that side was no surprise, even if the way they did it was a marginal surprise. Eschewing the usual intricate trigonometry displayed at regular intervals, Saka opted to play the ball back to White, who had enough time to cut out the simplest of crosses for Declan Rice to attack with venom. His header was forceful and highlighted the host's versatility.

Arteta's side had multiple chances to go further before the break, the best of which came through their delightful style of route one football provided by Jorginho's delicious strike, which freed Havertz behind the defense. Brentford. Unfortunately, the German wasted an excellent opportunity, beating Mark Flekken but wide of the far post.

Barely 10 minutes into a half-time respite in which I would have wanted nothing more than an uneventful second half, Ramsdale's heart was in its mouth again.

After carefully watching a long ball over his shoulder, potential Arsenal target Ivan Toney unleashed a wicked first-time shot from 35 yards that looked destined to fly over Ramsdale's head from his position near the penalty spot.

Fortunately for the Arsenal goalkeeper, his desperate pullback was enough to deflect the ball wide.

A Brentford goal would have come, once again, against the run of play and, against a backdrop of increasingly frenetic support from the Emirates, Arsenal quickly came close to regaining their lead. Gabriel's header appeared to be on target, but Vitaly Janelt stopped his advance on the goal line.

With tensions mounting, Ramsdale, seemingly determined to fill every segment of his match-day bingo card, pulled off a blinding save to deny Nathan Collins' header, before Rice curved beautifully against the intersection between the crossbar and the post from 25 yards.

And then, finally, as hope faded, the cork popped. White played a simple one-two with Ødegaard, before crossing for Havertz to head in unmarked from close range. Arsenal's streak continues, practically.