Gunners fall:
Centreback’s first goal for Hammers knocks down Arsenal
Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette goes down after a challenge by West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski in the English Premier League match at the London Stadium yesterday. Arsenal lost 1- 0.
LONDON: Declan Rice’s first West Ham goal secured a 1- 0 win over Arsenal in a capital city derby clash at the London Stadium.
The victory in yesterday’s early kickoff saw the Hammers move up to eighth in the English Premier League table, on 31 points, ahead of the bulk of the weekend’s fixtures.
Irish teenager Rice gave himself an early present for his 20th birthday tomorrow by scoring the only goal of the game three minutes into the second half.
The defeat dented Arsenal’s bid to break into the top four, with the Gunners still adrift of Chelsea in the race for a Champions League place.
West Ham named Marko Arnautovic in their starting lineup despite the Austrian forward’s brother and agent saying on Thursday he wanted to move to the Chinese Super League.
Former Arsenal favourite Samir Nasri started against his old club as the midfielder made his Premier League debut for the Hammers.
Arsenal’s Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi returned from injury for Arsenal but there was no place in Unai Emery’s squad for Mesut Ozil.
The match was goalless at the interval following near-misses by Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi and Hammers playmaker Felipe Anderson.
That all changed in the 48th minute.
Mustafi’s poor clearing header fell to Anderson, whose ball came to Rice via a neat lay-off from Nasri and Rice’s first- time shot gave Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno little chance.
Arsenal pressed for an equaliser but the Hammers survived three minutes of stoppage time as they held on for victory. — AFP