Ozil dropped as Arsenal loses; Liverpool leading

LONDON — Trailing 1-0 in a dreary London derby, what Arsenal manager Unai Emery needed was a creative spark to inspire a comeback at West Ham.

Mesut Ozil, perhaps? The playmaker wasn’t in the starting lineup, but he wasn’t on the bench either. And he was not injured.

Arsenal’s highest-paid player — reputedly earning £350,000 (US$450,00) a week — wasn’t in Emery’s tactical plans so didn’t make the trip across London to the Olympic stadium.

“I decided the idea of the players that I think are the best for this match,” Emery said.

“Today the players who were here are the players who deserved to be in this match. We could’ve won or lost.”

But Arsenal lost — for the third time in six English Premier League matches — after Declan Rice’s first goal for West Ham three minutes into the second half earned the victory.

“We tried for the reaction after the goal, but could not be efficient to create a goal,” Emery said. “We need more, to recover our play.”

Recovering league positions is proving harder.

Fifth-place Arsenal fell six points behind Chelsea, which extended its grip on the fourth and final Champions League place after labouring to a 2-1 victory over Newcastle.

Wining the Europa League — something Emery achieved three times at Sevilla — might be Arsenal’s only route back into the Champions League.

In Emery’s first season in charge, Arsenal is only two points better off after 22 games than in Arsene Wenger’s final campaign.

Without a Premier League title since 2004, Arsenal looks far from being a contender any time soon.