We secured a 2-1 victory over Arsenal in a pre-season friendly this afternoon at The Gunners’ training ground.

Bryan Mbeumo scored the first goal before Eddie Nketiah got one back for the home side. Ryan Trevitt then secured the win with a goal just before half-time.

Thomas Frank rotated his squad following on from yesterday’s 1-0 win over Brighton on the south coast. Goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha made his first appearance since joining on a free transfer over the summer.

It took just 10 minutes for The Bees to open the scoring and the keeper was involved from the start. His ball forward was flicked on by Fin Stevens, into the path of Trevitt. The midfielder whipped a cross into the middle and Mbeumo was there to control it before clipping the ball into the bottom left corner.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles was the first to try and get a response from his team. He cut inside from the left and smashed the ball towards the goal. Saman Ghoddos, wearing the captain’s armband, threw himself in the way to deny him.

With quarter of an hour gone, Brentford could have been two up. Rico Henry showed his pace by bursting into the left side of the box and drilling a cross into the middle. It took several deflections on its way through but no one in a Brentford jersey could turn it home.

The Bees kicked on and Henry was released again after 23 minutes. Mads Bech chipped the ball through to his fullback, who unselfishly decided to square the ball towards Mbeumo instead of going for goal. That allowed Rob Holding the chance to intercept the pass and clear his lines.

At the other end, Arsenal were back in the game. Collecting the ball on the wing, Nketiah cut inside from the left and dribbled past several defenders. He faked to go one side, before blasting a shot into the bottom left corner.

After half an hour, the away side really should have gone ahead again. Keane Lewis-Potter played a near pass beyond him to the overlapping Henry, who managed to swing a cross towards the far post. Mbeumo was ready and waiting to pounce but Ruell Walters stole in to flick the ball away from the Frenchman at the last second.

Just on the stroke of half-time, Trevitt got what would prove to be the winner. Lewis-Potter played the ball behind the Arsenal defence, Trevitt took one touch on his right foot before sweeping it home with his left.

After the break, Myles Peart-Harris might have doubled that advantage. His saw a shot deflected narrowly over the bar by Mohamed Elneny.

The home side pushed for a goal back but couldn’t break through the back line, instead opting for long-range efforts. On the hour, Matthew Cox replaced Strakosha in goal and immediately had to withstand this pressure.

Reiss Nelson got the first effort in, curling a shot in from the left wing that had Cox scrambling across his line to palm the ball wide.

Cedric had a good go himself with just 10 minutes left. The ball came to him on the edge of the box and he took it in his stride before blasting it against the post through a crowd of red and blue shirts. It took several deflections as Cox dived after it, watching it cannon off the post and away.

Arsenal might have snatched an equaliser just before the end. A ball across the box from Charlie Patino just escaped the run of Nketiah in the centre of the box and then bounced away from Marquinhos at the far post. Both players were left in a heap on the floor, unable to work out how neither of them could come up with a leveller.

Arsenal: Turner; Cedric, Walters (Awe h/t), Holding, Tavares (Souza 78); Lokonga, Elneny, Maitland-Niles (Patino 85); Marquinhos, Nketiah, Nelson (Saego 89)

Brentford: Strakosha (Cox 62); Stevens, Crama, Bech, Henry (Racic 62); Onyeka, Ghoddos (Yarmoliuk 76), Trevitt; Mbeumo (Gilbert 76), Peart-Harris, Lewis-Potter