Arsenal deservedly beat Brentford 2-1 at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.

Second-half strikes from academy graduates Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka sealed victory over the Bees as the Gunners moved to within a point of the top four.

England international Saka ran at the Brentford defence before curling an excellent right-footed shot past David Raya to secure a second successive win for the Gunners.

A late Brentford goal by Christian Norgaard proved only to be a consolation.

Read on for the Gooner Fanzine’s Player Ratings after an important victory for the home side 

Arsenal: 4-2-3-1

Aaron Ramsdale: 7/10 - Showed excellent handling on a wet day

Cedric Soares: 7/10 - Defensively sound while showing willing in supplementing colleagues further forward

Ben White: 7/10 – Tested Bees keeper Raya with a first half shot and was calm and composed throughout. Grows by the game. And to think there were poor, misguided souls who thought he was overpriced

Gabriel: 7/10 – A solid performance at the heart of the backline

Kieran Tierney: 7/10 – Not as eyecatching as his earlier Arsenal career but splendidly consistent and played his part in another earning important victory for the Gunners

Thomas Partey: 7/10 – A battling performance that provided the platform for the Gunners attacking talents to win the game

Granit Xhaka: 7/10 – A mature performance. Let’s hope for another in the Wolves rematch on Thursday

Bukayo Saka: 8/10 – A lively performance from the talented Arsenal academy graduate culminating in an excellent goal to make it 2-0. What an exciting talent Saka is – and to think he’s still only 20

Martin Odegaard: 7.5/10 – A classy player who said this week that Arsenal are going places. On this performance it’s hard to argue

Emile Smith Rowe: 8/10 - Another important goal from the Arsenal academy graduate thrilling Gooners everywhere. Wonderful to watch him drive at the backpedalling Brentford defence before firing past the helpless David Raya. Deserved his loud and hearty round of applause from the loyal Gunners support when he replaced with Pepe

Alex Lacazette: 7/10 – Works tirelessly when leading the line. Aware of the importance of link-up play while always looking to work an opening. A true team man who was another who earned acclaim for his performance when being replaced

Substitutes:

Pepe: 7/10 - Swapped with ESR and nearly scored with his first kic 

Eddie Nketiah: 6/10 - Replaced Lacazette