Arsenal share points with Brentford as Liverpool close on title

Arsenal had to settle for a 1-1 draw at home to Brentford on Saturday after Yoane Wissa's fine finish to leave Liverpool within three wins of clinching the Premier League title.

The hosts suffered a minor first-half come down from their exhilarating 3-0 Champions League quarterfinal first leg victory over Real Madrid in midweek, with the hosts struggling to beak down a well-organised Brentford side.

Thomas Partey put Arsenal in front just after the hour mark following great work from Declan Rice, the two-goal hero against Real, but Wissa levelled with a hooked 74th-minute finish.

Second-placed Arsenal never really looked like finding a late winner, leaving leaders Liverpool, who host lowly West Ham United on Sunday, 10 points clear with a game in hand, while Brentford climbed to 11th in the table.

"We are disappointed with the result," Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta told Sky Sports. "We had full control of the game and conceded a very poor goal.

"It was not good enough and when you don't do what you have to do against this team, you concede a goal."

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta made multiple changes with one eye on next week's second leg in Madrid as their exploits in Europe draw greater focus given Liverpool's lead in the title race.

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A flat first half came to life when Kieran Tierney, making his first league start for Arsenal in almost two years, headed home, only for the goal to be ruled out following a VAR review, utilising new semi-automated offside technology.

Brentford looked comfortable and had the best chance of the opening period, Kristoffer Ajer denied by a smart save from David Raya.

Rice's brilliance on the counter, where he carried the ball from one half to the other before slotting Partey through, was just the lift the Gunners needed.

The England midfielder has been involved in 16 goals in 44 games in all competitions this season -- seven goals and nine assists -- his joint-best return in a single campaign.

Normally a major threat from set pieces themselves, Arsenal conceded from one down the other end, with Wissa steering his 15th league goal of the season past Raya.

Arteta's side have dropped 16 points from winning positions this term -- one fewer than they had in the past two campaigns combined -- which has really put paid to their title challenge.

"Of course, it is a very good point against a very good Arsenal team that beat Real Madrid four days ago," Brentford coach Thomas Frank told Sky Sports.

"Fighting back to get to 1-1 shows the character in our team. I would have loved us to create more but they also defended very well."