Gunners’ goal blizzard gives Big Sam the chills
WEST BROM’S anthem is The Lord’s my Shepherd –and Sam Allardyce might need divine intervention to keep the Baggies in the Premier League.
Allardyce must have praised the heavens when Arsenal arrived at the highest ground in the country and walked into the teeth of a blizzard fierce enough to prompt Mikel Arteta to seek out referee Martin Atkinson.
But two brilliant first-half goals by Kieran Tierney and Bukayo Saka, followed by
Alexandre Lacazette’s quick-fire double after the break, had Big Sam living a Hawthorns hell.
West Brom have now conceded 12 goals in three home games since he took over – and still haven’t found the net.
It’s fair to say the cold chill of relegation is sweeping through the club promoted from the Championship last season.
Allardyce was brought in to keep Albion in the top division – but the squad Slaven Bilic left behind is not equipped for his kind of pragmatism.
Despite the icy conditions, Arsenal were much too hot for the home side. Allardyce has always liked a leveller – and he might not have been too impressed by how his groundstaff had the pitch looking like a bowling green in August.
When Allardyce was at Bolton, he got under Arsene Wenger’s skin so regularly that the Frenchman might have been tempted to ask his chemist for ointment.
And he got on the front foot before the game by insisting he classed Arsenal as relegation rivals, despite their successive wins over Chelsea and Brighton.
With Emile Smith Rowe impressive on his third successive Premier League start, it was the visitors who took
control. Hector Bellerin’s halfvolley was blocked by the legs of Albion keeper Sam Johnstone.
As the snow started falling again, Dani Ceballos found Saka down the right.
He cut inside Dara O’Shea and tried to find the far corner with a curling left-foot effort.
He was inches off target – and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang slid into the post as he tried to apply a finishing touch.
Another Saka delivery from the same flank was again just too strong for Aubameyang as he arrived at the far post.
And it took an intuitive piece of defending from Branislav
Ivanovic to deny Lacazette a tapin. Albion threatened for the first time when skipper Matt Phillips unleashed an angled shot that was beaten away by Bernd Leno.
But the Gunners took a deserved lead in the 23rd minute through Kieran Tierney.
A touch of frost was never going to worry the Scot – and he twice embarrassed Albion rightback Darnell Furlong as he cut inside to curl a glorious rightfooted effort high past Johnson.
Big Sam must have really feared another chastening evening five minutes later when the Gunners scored again – and in brilliant style. Smith Rowe started the move with a burst of pace before finding Saka and carrying on his run.
Saka’s nudged pass found Lacazette to steer a pass into Smith Rowe and the 20-year-old drew Johnstone unselfishly squared for Saka to run the ball into an empty net.
No wonder Arteta punched the night air in glee.
Allardyce sent on Charlie Austin at the break – and Albion immediately had a Phillips goal disallowed for offside.
That gave the home side some momentum, but Johnstone still had to save from Lacazette after the Frenchman had beaten the offside trap. Lacazette did get on the scoresheet on the hour, starting and finishing the move.
His pass sent Saka down the left to send in a cross that was volleyed against his own post by Semi Ajayi.
Smith Rowe’s powerful followup was beaten out by Johnstone.
But the ball fell to Lacazette – and he made no mistake ramming home his eighth goal of the season.
His ninth arrived five minutes later.
Tierney’s burst down the left ended with a cross into the six-yard box and the Arsenal striker couldn’t miss.