Arsenal grind past Brentford to go five points clear

LONDON, Dec 3 : Leaders Arsenal claimed three more points in their Premier League title push as Mikel Merino's early goal and a late one from substitute Bukayo Saka earned them a nervy 2-0 home victory over Brentford on Wednesday.

Spaniard Merino headed in from Ben White's cross after 11 minutes as the hosts stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to 18 but it was a night of hard graft.

Kevin Schade hit the crossbar for a well-drilled Brentford in the first half and Arsenal looked laboured after the break until Saka eased the growing sense of anxiety in the first minute of stoppage time.

It was far from fluent from Mikel Arteta's side but he will not care about that as his team re-established a five-point lead at the top over Manchester City. They have 33 points from 14 games with City on 28.