West Ham secured their first Premier League win on the Emirates Stadium since 2015 and broken Arsenal’s title hopes with a shock 2-0 London derby victory on Thursday night.
A calamitous scramble within the Gunners field ended when Tomas Soucek arrived to belt within the opener earlier than Konstantinos Mavropanos flicked in James Ward-Prowse’s nook to double the Hammers’ lead.
Arsenal couldn’t muster a response regardless of the likes of Leandro Trossard, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus having good alternatives, permitting Liverpool to develop a two-point lead on the high of the desk on the conclusion of Gameweek 19.
How the sport unfolded
West Ham confirmed threatening indicators early on as Ward-Prowse fired goalwards from 20 yards, his effort simply hovering over David Raya’s objective.
Good work from Ben White, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard helped Mikel Arteta’s aspect trend their first main opening with the ball falling to Bukayo Saka, however the England winger’s effort was fired disappointingly straight at Alphonse Areola.
Whereas firmly in opposition to the run of play, West Ham’s rugged strategy which additionally noticed them win at fellow north London aspect Tottenham rewarded them as indecision within the dwelling field supplied Soucek with an opportunity on objective.
Emerson Palmieri’s cross hit two defenders and deflected to Jarrod Bowen, who confirmed his presence of thoughts to put the ball again to Soucek who rattled in confidently contained in the field. The VAR test took unnecessarily lengthy as checks had been made on the ball staying within the area of play, nevertheless it was ultimately given.
Arsenal had been unbeaten in dwelling league motion in 2023/24 earlier than Thursday evening and continued to probe and make possibilities, with Saka bringing an acrobatic save from Areola with a header.
An damage to Lucas Paqueta left West Ham with out their talismanic Brazilian whereas the Gunners tried to stroll in an equaliser. One opening noticed Odegaard defer shot-taking duties to Saka, then Gabriel Jesus and eventually Gabriel Martinelli, who curled effectively large.
Odegaard’s inch-perfect go slipped Saka in behind Angelo Ogbonna, leaving the 22-year-old bearing down on Areola. Whereas his contact was inaccurate, Saka nonetheless struck the publish earlier than Trossard put the rebound large.
Declan Rice almost bagged what would have been a dream objective once more his former aspect after receiving Trossard’s go, however the midfielder’s strike from distance floated simply over the bar.
Arsenal’s profligacy in entrance of objective quickly proved their downfall as one in every of their former gamers prolonged West Ham’s lead. David Moyes’ aspect as soon as once more struck with the house aspect within the ascendency, with Ward-Prowse’s set-piece supply proving essential.
The previous Southampton midfielder’s nook was met powerfully by Mavropanos, whose good header flew throughout the field into the other nook off the woodwork.
West Ham have been in outstanding type of late, choosing up spectacular wins in opposition to Spurs and Manchester United alongside heavy defeats to Fulham and Liverpool, however their stout defending couldn’t be argued with as they inched their manner in direction of all three factors throughout the second half.
Saka’s cross was tamely headed at Areola earlier than the Brazilian ballooned one other presentable alternative within the air as Arsenal huffed and puffed unsuccessfully in the hunt for a route again into the sport.
As a substitute, it could be West Ham who had been handed the perfect probability to attain the match’s third objective. Rice hacked down Emerson to present his former aspect a penalty, however Raya loved arguably his most confidence-boosting second at Arsenal up to now by beating away Mentioned Benrahma’s tame effort.
That was the final decisive motion of the sport, nevertheless, leaving Arsenal two factors behind Liverpool on the high of the desk. West Ham, in the meantime, transfer as much as sixth.
GK: David Raya – 7/10 – Was once more fairly an anxious presence within the Arsenal field however did not less than take pleasure in a convincing second late on with the penalty save,
RB: Ben White – 4/10 – Clipped in some harmful crosses however not often went on the surface in assault and was a little bit light-weight in defence.
CB: William Saliba – 5/10 – Was dragged out large earlier than West Ham opened the scoring. Struggled with Bowen’s energy.
CB: Gabriel Magalhaes – 5/10 – Performed his half in a mishap with Zinchenko and lacked decisiveness in one in every of his poorer video games.
LB: Oleksandr Zinchenko – 4/10 – Surprisingly dangerous in possession given his famend technical capability and likewise provided little muscle in defence.
CM: Martin Odegaard – 7/10 – Considered one of Arsenal’s brighter sparks, continually demanding the ball and giving his all in a doomed try and get his aspect again into the sport.
CM: Declan Rice – 6/10 – Was persistent and combative in the midst of the park however was outwitted at essential moments, even when his late error wasn’t punished by Benrahma.
CM: Leandro Trossard – 5/10 – Performed in a deeper midfield function however nonetheless received 5 pictures away. Didn’t profit from his alternatives.
RW: Bukayo Saka – 6/10 – Struck the publish and confirmed no indicators of shirking duty with 9 pictures taken, although 5 of these had been blocked.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 4/10 – Gives lots in Arsenal’s build-up however a steelier edge in entrance of objective was wanted for Arteta’s aspect on Thursday evening.
LW: Gabriel Martinelli – 5/10 – A quiet recreation and could not trigger Coufal sufficient grief earlier than coming off after the hour.
Substitutes
SUB: Eddie Nketiah (64′ for Martinelli) – 6/10
SUB: Reiss Nelson (64′ for Zinchenko) – 5/10
SUB: Emile Smith Rowe (79′ for Trossard) – 5/10
Subs not used: Aaron Ramsdale, Cedric Soares, Jakub Kiwior, Jorginho, Mohamed Elneny, Ethan Nwaneri.
Supervisor
Mikel Arteta – 4/10 – Arsenal saved battering West Ham however the cool head to transform did not present up, whereas Arteta’s modifications from the bench could not encourage any form of comeback.
GK: Alphonse Areola – 7/10 – Made eight saves in complete in a strong show, commanding his field effectively even when his shot-stopping was flimsy-looking at occasions.
RB: Vladimir Coufal – 7/10 – Robust and strong out large, seeing off the problem of Martinelli effectively. Made 5 headed clearances.
CB: Konstantinos Mavropanos – 8/10 – Flicked in brilliantly to double West Ham’s lead and was readily available to clear hazard every time mandatory.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 7/10 – Complemented Mavropanos’ assured show by main the defence and repelling crosses.
LB: Emerson Palmieri – 7/10 – His cross precipitated the scramble that led to Soucek’s objective, whereas his endeavour gave Benrahma the possibility to make it 3-0, although that chance was wasted.
CM: Edson Alvarez – 7/10 – A tower of power in the midst of the park, making 5 tackles.
CM: Tomas Soucek – 7/10 – Obtained into the field to pounce on the unfastened ball and rating and likewise did his bit within the defensive third.
RW: Mohammed Kudus – 7/10 – Gained the ball again 9 occasions for West Ham in a fantastic defensive exhibiting, although did not get many possibilities to point out his expertise within the ultimate third.
AM: James Ward-Prowse – 7/10 – Depraved supply from large areas proved essential as he assisted Mavropanos’ header.
LW: Lucas Paqueta – 6/10 – Had some fleeting involvements earlier than a suspected hamstring damage introduced his night to a untimely finish.
ST: Jarrod Bowen – 7/10 – Confirmed nice ingenuity to arrange Soucek’s opener and did not give Arsenal’s centre-backs any time to relaxation or settle.
Substitutes
SUB: Mentioned Benrahma (33′ for Paqueta) – 5/10 – Missed the penalty late on which might have actually sweetened West Ham’s victory.
Subs not used: Lukasz Fabianski, Ben Johnson, Aaron Cresswell, Pablo Fornals, Maxwel Cornet, Danny Ings, Thilo Kehrer, Divin Mubama.
Supervisor
David Moyes – 9/10 – Questions are continually requested over Moyes’ future together with his West Ham contract up on the finish of the season, however with latest wins over Tottenham, Man Utd and now Arsenal, he is due some respite from all that undesirable consideration.
