Arsenal reclaimed a Champions League spot from rivals Tottenham with a 2-1 victory over West Ham at the London Stadium.
Before kick-off the pressure was piled on the Gunners as Tottenham beat Leicester earlier in the day to climb to fourth, a place and a point above their north London rivals.
Despite a lethargic start from both sides, the game came to life on 40 minutes when Rod Holding scored his first Arsenal Premier League goal, only for West Ham to equalise moments later through Jarrod Bowen, who has now netted ten times in the league this season.
However, early in the second half Gabriel headed home from a Gabriel Martinelli cross to put Arsenal back in front, and the Gunners then cruised their way to a crucial away victory.
The win sees Arsenal recapture the initiative in the race for the top four, with the Gunners now two points ahead of Spurs, while West Ham remain in seventh three points off Manchester United.
Arteta’s side take on Leeds next weekend, before facing Tottenham 10 days before the end of the season in a fixture likely to determine which north London side will secure the final Champions League spot.
TALKING POINT
ARSENAL LOOK RESILIENT… There is an old adage that though Arsenal are entertaining to watch, they are fragile and not streetwise.
The Gunners’ Champions League hopes took a major hit in the shape of three straight defeats last month, and the consensus was that the pressure of claiming an unlikely Champions League spot was perhaps having an influence on this young side.
However, today’s victory comes after two wins on the bounce over Manchester United and Chelsea respectively.
In all three games Arsenal played well when they needed to, but were also willing to engage in some of football’s dark arts.
At times Arsenal had time wasting down to an art form, with Aaron Ramsdale deliberating over where to place his goal kicks as if he were playing a game of Russian Roulette. While perhaps this should not be praised, its effects should equally not be underestimated.
Today’s game was attritional and frankly quite dull at times, but Arsenal displayed maturity in slowing the game down when necessary, while they seemed to have control over the occasion.
This will serve them with the top four race going down to the wire.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Rob Holding (Arsenal) – White’s surprise absence would have been a worry for Arsenal – the last time that centre back missed a Premier League game was the Gunners’ 5-0 loss to Manchester City in August.
However, Holding deputised superbly and even claimed his first ever Premier League goal for the club with a brilliant towering header.
Holding was also defensively solid and on the end of a number of crucial blocks in first half that denied West Ham the chance to take an early lead.
PLAYER RATINGS
West Ham – Fabianski – 6, Coufal – 6, Zouma – 7, Cresswell -6, Fredericks – 6, Noble – 6, Rice – 7, Fornals – 7, Bowen – 7, Benrahma – 7, Lanzini – 6… Subs: Yarmolenko – n/a, Antonio – 5, Soucek – 5,
Arsenal – Ramsdale – 7, Tomiyasu – 6, Holding – 8, Gabriel – 8, Tavares – 6, Elneny – 7, Xhaka – 7, Odegaard – 7, Martinelli – 8, Saka – 7, Nketiah – 7… Subs: Smith Rowe – 6, Cedric – 6, Lokonga – n/a
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
38’ – GOAL! WEST HAM 0- 1 ARSENAL – Holding towered above Manuel Lanzini and nodded a Bukayo Saka right wing delivery into the far left corner of the goal.
45’ – GOAL! WEST HAM 1 –1 ARSENAL – Vladimir Coufal broke down the right and pulled the ball back to Bowen, who had found a pocket of space in the box. The West Ham forward’s effort nestled into the bottom left corner of the goal with the help of a deflection off Gabriel.
52’ – BOWEN BOOKED – A ball was played in behind for Bowen to chase, but Ramsdale rushed out of his area and appeared to have hacked him down. However Mike Dean booked Bowen for diving, with replays showing that Ramsdale had made minimal contact with the attacker. For a moment however the Arsenal keeper looked in trouble.
54’ – GOAL! WEST HAM 1 – 2 ARSENAL – Martinelli dinked in a wonderful cross towards the back post, which was headed in by Gabriel. Lukasz Fabianski got a hand to it, but the effort was too powerful to stop.
