Mikel Arteta fielded a rotated side with Wednesday’s match against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in mind, which contributed to a fairly slow start.
The Gunners still had moments as Ethan Nwaneri’s shot was deflected wide, before Christian Norgaard awkwardly dealt with a Thomas Partey header across goal.
The game’s first shot on target eventually came in the 22nd minute at the other end, when Kristoffer Ajer sprinted up the pitch to latch onto Bryan Mbeumo’s pass, but saw his effort denied by David Raya’s legs.
Kieran Tierney looked to have marked his first PL start since May 2023 with a goal when he headed Nwaneri’s cross home just four minutes later, although it was ruled out as he had strayed offside.
Oleksandr Zinchenko then hit a low effort that Mark Flekken palmed wide, and Gabriel Martinelli was found by a searching William Saliba pass before being denied by a timely block from Ajer.
Leandro Trossard then tried to make something happen, heading over from a Nwaneri corner before hitting two ambitious attempts from range that were denied.
The Bees stood firm against early pressure after the restart and had their own moments of quality, such as a superb ball from Keane Lewis-Potter forcing a corner.
It was a blistering break from another Brentford corner that saw Arsenal open the scoring on the hour mark, as David Raya rolled the ball out for Rice to sprint up the pitch and tee up Thomas Partey for a first-time finish.
Brentford pushed back despite some of Arsenal’s more regular starters being introduced, and they equalised in the 74th minute when a corner wasn’t convincingly cleared, allowing Ajer to head Michael Kayode’s cross back for Yoane Wissa to beat Raya with an improvised shot.
Kayode then halted Bukayo Saka after he had pickpocketed Flekken, and Saka sent his shot in the final seconds curling agonisingly wide as Brentford recorded back-to-back draws to go above Crystal Palace and assume 11th place.
Despite not taking all three points, Arsenal extended their unbeaten run to nine matches as they prepare for their UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Declan Rice (Arsenal)