ARSENAL VEER FROM THE RIDICULOUS TO THE SUBLIME
Lacazette earns point after West Ham wonder start
ON and on they go, falling and rising on their weird tides. We have watched it across the course of their peculiar season and now we have seen it compressed into one remarkable and absurd match. Strange bunch, Arsenal. Terrible, brilliant Arsenal.
Here we saw it all — a side capable of falling 3- 0 behind who emerged later with a slight grievance at taking only one point.
There truly is no middle ground with this lot. No neutral. No grey — no boring, bankable, steady grey. They can be the multi-holed bucket that leaked its way to Christmas, or the team who have been the fourth best in the division in the three months since. They are mid-table in the Premier League but the rest of their odd existence seems to be found only in the extremes.
And so to this magnificent game to support the point. In the space of 32 minutes, Arsenal conceded three to Jesse Lingard, Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek, and there might even have been one or two more.
West Ham were exquisite, a frontfoot force driven by Lingard, Soucek and Said Benrahma. At one juncture, half an hour in, they held 70 per cent of possession. Goodness they were sharp, bullies battering the weak.
That West Ham hit three bumps between minutes 38 and 82 will have no great impact on sensible conclusions around David Moyes’ success this season and, in any case, this was not a collapse.
It will sting but it was not a capitulation in the classic interpretation of the word.
Sure, the passes lost some zip, the moves lost some speed, too many crosses from the right were permitted. But the prime factor was Arsenal. They stopped their muppet show. They got the ball to Martin Odegaard and he changed this game — a 22-year-old loanee finding himself after the hype of his youth at Real Madrid.
Two of the chapters of recovery came from own goals, scored by Soucek and Craig Dawson, and the leveller was buried by Alexandre Lacazette, but if you looked closely, Odegaard was holding the strings. As a result, it won’t do a huge amount for Arsenal. Nor West Ham and their Champions League dream. But it was arguably game of the season — a 31-shot riot.
‘A really good game,’ said Moyes and there wasn’t much more that needed adding.
Arteta made six changes to the side beaten by Olympiacos on Thursday, with the most notable decision being the retention of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had been dropped against Tottenham for turning up late and then flapped around quite hopelessly against the Greeks. He wasn’t much better here.
Moyes, meanwhile, made only two changes to the team defeated in such an underwhelming manner by Manchester United although, crucially, that included the return of Lingard and Benrahma.
With those two leading the dance, this game was different. So very, very different. Even before we got to the 15th minute and the commencement of the goal rush, West Ham were dominating.
Their first strike was a delight. Michail Antonio led the surge and was part of a lovely exchange with Benrahma before pulling the ball back with the outside of his boot to Lingard.
The forward took one touch on the edge of the area and picked out the top-right corner with the next. It was an excellent finish by Lingard for his fifth goal since joining, but credit to Benrahma — he drives Moyes to frustration with his inconsistency but when he is good, he is very effective.
The second goal was a classic Arsenal mess. The first issue was their desperately slow reaction to the quick free-kick taken by Lingard that put Bowen on course to goal from the right, the second was Bernd Leno’s failure to keep out the shot at his near post.
Arteta put a cool face on it, but the third goal brought more anger. It was rooted in a careless pass from Kieran Tierney that conceded possession and culminated with Soucek getting a toe on an Antonio header to beat Leno. Arsenal were at their worst since Burnley. But then they weren’t — and it was all very sudden. Lacazette fired a shot that appeared to be heading wide before deflecting in off Soucek, and quickly Saka blew a strong chance for a second. More openings appeared, mostly via Odegaard, and somehow Arsenal finished the half on a wave of pressure. They started the second just as well, with Lacazette forcing Issa Diop to clear off his line, and they pulled back another goal on the hour. As with the first, Calum Chambers assisted with a cross from the right and for the second time in successive games,
Dawson scored an own goal. It went in via his shin.
Antonio hit a post, but amid a blaze of Arsenal chances, West Ham were knocked on to their backs by a Nicolas Pepe cross and Lacazette’s header.
Even then, Declan Rice had a 60-yard run and shot to win it before Pepe scuffed one of his own in retaliation. A frantic end to a bonkers game that served everyone barring the two teams. WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianksi 6; Coufal 7, Dawson 6.5, Diop 7, Cresswell 6.5; Soucek 7, Rice 7; Bowen 7 (Noble 74mins, 6), Lingard 7.5, Benrahma 7.5 (Fredericks 79); Antonio 7. Subs not used: Martin, Trott, Balbuena, Lanzini, Alves Ibsen, Johnson, Odubeko. Scorers: Lingard 15, Bowen 17, Soucek 32. Booked: Coufal, Cresswell, Antonio. Manager: David Moyes 7.5. ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Leno 5; Chambers 7, Luiz 5.5, Mari 6, Tierney 6; Partey 5.5, Xhaka 6 (Smith Rowe 74, 6); Aubameyang 5 (Martinelli 81), ODEGAARD 8, Saka 6.5 (Pepe 74, 6); Lacazette 7.5. Subs not used: Ryan, Gabriel, Ceballos, Holding, Soares, Elneny. Scorers: Soucek 38 (og), Dawson 61 (og), Lacazette 82. Booked: Lacazette. Manager: Mikel Arteta 7.5. Referee: Jonathan Moss 6.