Moyes’ men down on their luck once again

APPROPRIATELY in these days of self-isolation, David Moyes looked ready to lock himself away in a darkened room after this one. It really was a slap across the face with a hand full of germs.

The comfort for West Ham’s manager, if there is any, is that his side were often excellent, a collective that countered as well as it defended.

The only issue was also the big issue — getting the ball in the net.

On four occasions at 0-0, and probably more, they had what can be fairly termed excellent chances, not even counting the shot Jarrod Bowen put against a post inside two minutes. How they failed to get through is anyone’s guess. A mystery, really.

Some credit to Bernd Leno for that — Arsenal’s keeper was the best player on the field.

And some balance on Michail Antonio, too, for while he was the most wasteful with the opportunities, he was also central to much of what West Ham did well on the ball. But, alas, they didn’t even get the draw, beaten down to zero points by a 78th-minute half-sucker punch from Alexandre Lacazette, whose winner was initially flagged for offside and then awarded by the VAR.

‘The opportunities were there to win and we didn’t take them,’ said Moyes. ‘I don’t want us to be a hardluck story. I told my players I thought they played well but let’s get rid of that tag.

‘We have got to be more ruthless. At this stage, I would rather we had not played well and won.’

Gunners boss Mikel Arteta said: ‘The most important thing is to find a way to win. That is what the big clubs do. A lot of things need to improve. But let us just enjoy today. We have to take it game by game.’