Arsenal stake their claim in top-four hunt
After Storm Auba and five long days of dark mutterings about the curse of the Arsenal captaincy, the clouds did part for Mikel Arteta and a golden path to the top four did appear.
typical Arsenal. from the ridiculous to the sublime and yet not without a mild panic attack in the closing stages against a West Ham side reduced to 10 men and high on angst and injustice.
Alexandre Lacazette led the way for Arteta. the interim captain, who will be out of contract in six months, led the team out, led the line well and took the young players with him in the absence of Pierre-emerick Aubameyang, still on the naughty step for his latest disciplinary lapse.
Lacazette created the opening goal for Gabriel Martinelli, three minutes after the interval, and he played extremely well despite his failure to beat Lukasz fabianksi and make it 2-0 from the penalty spot, a save largely responsible for sparking the anxiety that rolled down from the stands and briefly rattled the players.
West Ham were far from their best until the penalty incident, midway through the second half, which led to the dismissal of Vladimir Coufal for a second yellow card and was ferociously disputed on the pitch.
Coufal’s mistake was to go to ground and slide into the tackle. He was slightly high but he took plenty of the ball. Lacazette overreacted, a theme of the game from early on when Coufal blocked Kieran tierney with an arm and picked up his first yellow.
tierney rolled around on that occasion as Arsenal lobbied for a red. It did not come until later, when VAr Peter Bankes backed Anthony taylor’s decision and Coufal departed reluctantly.
fabianski saved diving to his left and, belatedly, West Ham fired and Arsenal were gripped by nerves until substitute emile Smith rowe grabbed a second on the break. Arteta celebrated climbing into fourth and gushed about a ‘statement’ victory, his ‘project’ and the spirit of his team. they deserved the win regardless of another penalty controversy.
for David Moyes, there was little to enjoy as he reached the milestone of 600 Premier League games as a manager. He is in esteemed company with Sir Alex ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Harry redknapp.
In all those games over all those years, however, Moyes has never won at Arsenal. eighteen and counting. He has worked wonders at West Ham but they are fading. Now, it is one win in six and Michail Antonio, virtually unplayable early in the campaign, is close to two months without a goal for his club.
Injuries at the back are having an impact and Arsenal set about them energetically from the start, with a good tempo, early pressure and a claim for a penalty when Craig Dawson was late into a tackle on Lacazette. referee taylor waved this one away.
Dawson made another desperate block to deny Martin Odegaard and tierney’s dipping follow-up shot appeared destined for the top corner until fabianski stretched and tipped it against the bar.
West Ham’s goalkeeper saved again from Lacazette, as half-time loomed and Martinelli was unable to turn in the rebound. Moyes’s team created very little before the interval. they broke dangerously once or twice only to let Arsenal off the hook with a disappointing final pass. Arthur Masuaku and Antonio were among the culprits.
Pablo fornals was the closest for the visitors in the first half. His curling effort from the edge of the box was narrowly wide but the second half opened in similar pattern. Arsenal were on top and found the breakthrough when Lacazette dropped into space, turned and released Martinelli, who was too quick for Dawson and
Coufal and applied an accurate finish to beat fabianski.
Arteta leapt for joy and punched the air but it was not done. West Ham summoned a response. Aaron ramsdale made his first save of the game, pushing wide from Jarrod Bowen.
Lacazette missed from the spot and Arsenal made it more frantic than it should have been against 10 men, before Smith rowe’s run and cool finish, his seventh goal in a dozen appearances, helped them over the line and into the top four ahead of Saturday’s trip to Leeds.
Very few saw that coming after they started the campaign with three defeats. ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale 6; Tomiyasu 6, White 6, Gabriel 6.5, Tierney 7; Partey 6, Xhaka 6.5; Saka 7, Odergaard 6 (Smith Rowe 66min, 7.5), Martinelli 7 (Nketiah 82); LACAZETTE 8 (Tavares 89). Scorers: Martinelli 48, Smith Rowe 87. Booked: Martinelli, Ramsdale. Manager: Mikel Arteta 7.
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 7; Coufal 6, Dawson 7, Diop 6, Masuaku 5; Soucek 6, Rice 7; Bowen 6, Fornals 6.5 (Ashby 84), Lanzini 6 (Benrahma 76); Antonio 6. Booked: Coufal. Sent off: Coufal. Manager: David Moyes 6. Referee: Anthony Taylor 6. Attendance: 59,777.