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Thomas Frank insisted Arsenal were \u2018lucky\u2019 to have emerged victorious from last night\u2019s Carabao Cup third round tie against Brentford. <\/p>\n
The Gunners made significant changes to their starting line-up and handed opportunities to the likes of Jakub Kiwior, Emile Smith Rowe and Reiss Nelson who have featured only sporadically so far this season.<\/p>\n
Mike Arteta also handed a debut to youngster Charles Sagoe Jr, while Aaron Ramsdale returned in goal having been dropped by his manager for the last two Premier League games. <\/p>\n
Ultimately, Arsenal were indebted to their goalkeeper who made several fine second half saves to thwart Brentford who were unable to find a way past the returning England international. <\/p>\n
\u2018It was a good performance in the first half and excellent in the second half,\u2019 said Frank, whose side have now endured rare back-to-back defeats at home. \u2018I think Arsenal were very lucky to get away with this with the chances we created in the second half.\u2019<\/p>\n
He added: \u2018We created good moments, pressed very well and high and won the ball back a lot of times.<\/p>\n
\u2018We created all the chances that you can ask for in a game like this and on another day they go in the back of the net.<\/p>\n
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\u2018It\u2019s very tough to take that we didn\u2019t get something out of it, but tomorrow \u2013 with the 24-hour rule \u2013 I won\u2019t be too disappointed. We need to look at the positives and move forward.\u2019<\/p>\n
Arsenal, meanwhile, face another difficult London derby away from home against West Ham in the next round but Mikel Arteta is delighted to still be in a competition that offers a realistic chance of silverware. <\/p>\n
He said: \u2018In this competition, you\u2019re either in or our, and we\u2019re in. Two very different halves \u2013 in the first we had a lot of control and scored the goal, and we had some chances to put away, and we didn\u2019t. <\/p>\n
\u2018And in the second half, they had a more aggressive approach as well, and we struggled to progress the ball and travel together. <\/p>\n
\u2018We were too direct and then it becomes a difficult game, because there are a lot of duels; there\u2019s free-kicks and long throws you have to defend every time and bring everybody back to try to get out and win territory from there. <\/p>\n
\u2018They are really good at that. When we don\u2019t play that well, you need to have some big defensive moments and we had [them]. We had some big blocks in the box and Aaron making a big save as well.\u2019<\/p>\n