It’s Arnie at the double to rescue weary Hammers
FOR an hour, Marko Arnautovic had experienced one of those exasperating outings he occasionally endures. The days he flaps his hands at teammates and plays on the fringes of the game.
As West Ham fell 2-0 down within an hour to Brighton, this seemed to be one of those occasions. And then, with all his magnificent power and talent, he came to life.
In doing so, he scored twice and rescued West Ham from a miserable start to 2019. His personal fightback started in the 66th minute as he received a pass over the top from substitute Mark Noble. Confronted by the physicality of Shane Duffy, Arnautovic backed in, won the tussle and slid the ball underneath David Button in the Brighton goal.
Within two minutes, the scores were level as Noble combined with a second substitute, Michail Antonio, who scurried to the byline and pulled back for Arnautovic to stab home his second.
Now the Austrian was in turbocharge. He harried and harassed the Brighton backline, sliding in as Button cleared with his feet. He then turned to the London Stadium crowd and demanded more from the terraces. Antonio cut inside but blasted over.
It was a remarkable turnaround and one that West Ham badly needed after wretchedly switching off at the start of the second half.
If the definition of insanity really is to do the same thing again and expect different results, then Manuel Pellegrini will start this morning by questioning how his team defend set-pieces.
This had been average fare by both sides until the 56th minute when West Ham twice dozed off at corner-kicks to allow Brighton a two-goal advantage and seemingly hand Chris Hughton’s team backto-back victories to round off the Christmas period.
The opener came when Issa Diop sloppily conceded a corner-kick and Lukasz Fabianski tamely punched away Pascal Gross’ setpiece. Dale Stephens strode onto the scene and his half-volley arrowed through the crowd and into the goal.
The lead was quickly doubled, as a deep swinging corner found Shane Duffy, who poked the ball into the far corner. After a revival that saw West Ham win five matches in six games, Pellegrini’s team were now on course to lose consecutive games.
Certainly, the first-half promised little. These two teams have moved safely clear of the relegation zone in recent months and both can look upwards rather than over their shoulder. Yet the quality was desperately low during a dismal half in which neither side created a clear chance of note. Perhaps the low tempo was influenced by the heavy burden of the festive schedule. Both teams appeared heavy-legged and badly in need of a winter break.
Pre-match excitement was to be found on the West Ham team sheet, where Andy Carroll started up front for the first time since January 2 last year. Samir Nasri, meanwhile, made the bench after joining the club following the end of his 18-month drugs ban.
Carroll is now 29 and this felt like an important evening for the forward to recapture some form. Sadly, service was rare. Carroll’s first significant act was to turn a promising West Ham counterattack into a Brighton set-piece and his influence did not grow.
He had the fewest number of touches on the field, completing four of eight attempted passes, and was substituted at half-time.
West Ham’s first significant sight of goal came in the 24th minute when Martin Montoya miscued a clearance and Felipe Anderson’s snapshot was too central.
Arnautovic then unleashed a long-distance curler that was well held by Button.
The Austrian was clearly saving his greatest impact for later on.