West Ham 2 Arsenal 2
If Arsenal’s wait for the Premier League title is to extend beyond the end of the season, this will go down as the day when their challenge faltered. After last Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Liverpool, the coaching staff had been happy with the point, even if they accepted that the game management had to improve. There were not so many ‘what ifs?’ – even though they had led 2-0.
It was an entirely different feeling here. This was a game that Arsenal had in the palm of their hand, initially after they surged into an early 2-0 lead; at that point, the natives were restless in the London Stadium, Arsenal’s superiority pronounced.
Then, at 2-1 early in the second half, Arsenal did so again, Bukayo Saka standing over a penalty. The club’s player of the season had not missed from the spot since his notorious fail for England in the Euro 2020 final shoot-out loss to Italy but here his nerve deserted him, his kick steered off target.
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How West Ham made him and Arsenal pay. David Moyes’s team – for whom the point and overall performance was huge in their relegation battle – turned the game on its head when Saïd Benrahma scored for 2-1 from the penalty spot on 33 minutes.
Thereafter, Arsenal simply lost their conviction. It is difficult to remember them playing so aimlessly over a period for as long as 60 minutes or so and West Ham were full value for their point, which was secured by Jarrod Bowen’s fine volley.
Arsenal had entered with an enviable derby record for the season; nine wins and a draw out of 10. This was the day when it all went wrong, their early excellence nothing more than a memory.
West Ham’s physical commitment was there throughout and they looked up for it at the start, winning a few one-on-ones, Declan Rice prominent. Then Arsenal scored twice and the truth was that they did not have to work very hard for them.
The first was a training ground move, Thomas Partey cutting right to left, popping the ball off to Martin Ødegaard who made the incisive pass to Ben White, who had run in behind. White’s low cross from the byline gave Gabriel Jesus a tap-in.
Moyes wore a thunderous expression when the second went in, presumably directed at Benrahma, who did not fancy tracking Ødegaard’s run. Gabriel Martinelli had crossed once and saw nothing come of it. But when he tried again, Ødegaard – in yards of space at the far post – got his body side on to volley past Lukasz Fabianski.
Moyes had ditched his two striker experiment from the win at Fulham last weekend, recalling the fit-again Lucas Paquetá and Benrahma in a 4-3-3 system. Michail Antonio had a lot to do as the lone front runner – albeit a task he relished – and there were boos from the home crowd when a long ball forward to nobody on 27 minutes ran through to Aaron Ramsdale.
The mood would change sharply when the indefatigable Rice pressed Partey to win the ball high up. Did Rice handle? The VAR would say no. Rice passed into the area to Paquetá and Arsenal were stretched, Gabriel Magalhães going to ground and Paquetá seeing him coming. Gabriel tried to pull out of the challenge but he could not, the impressive Paquetá feeling the contact and going down. Benrahma sent Ramsdale the wrong way with a side-foot from the spot.
Suddenly, Arsenal were rattled. Previously, they had enjoyed time and space on the ball; so much, at times, that the sighs from the West Ham support were audible. Now West Ham were tighter and they pushed, Partey and Jesus both booked for fouls to prevent the counterattack. Moyes’s team were also dangerous on set-pieces; Antonio might have done better with one header following a free-kick as half-time approached.
Arsenal’s chance to reassert themselves came early in the second half. When Martinelli’s hooked shot hit Antonio’s slightly outstretched arm inside the area after West Ham had half-cleared a corner, it was as if the air had been sucked from the stadium.
It blew back like a hurricane when Saka pushed his kick wide of Fabianski’s right-hand post and there would be delirium when Bowen found the equaliser, a glorious side-on volley after Thilo Kehrer had lobbed forward after a clearing header from Gabriel. It was a difficult skill to execute but Bowen’s connection as the ball dropped was perfect, Ramsdale getting his fingertips to it but unable to keep it out.
Arsenal groped for the answers and it was easy to feel that it was not their day when Ødegaard sent a straightforward pass into touch on the hour. Mikel Arteta hooked Partey and Jesus; Leandro Trossard coming on as a false nine for the latter. Jorginho replaced Partey. Arteta would also introduce Fábio Vieira and Reiss Nelson for Kieran Tierney and Martinelli – plus Eddie Nketiah for Ødegaard at the last. He tried everything.
West Ham had something to hold, they were determined to hold it and they made life extremely difficult for Arsenal. What did Arteta’s team create after the penalty miss? Precious little. A stretching Jesus could not reach a low Tierney cross on 65 minutes and that was about it.
It was West Ham that looked the more threatening team. Bowen was kept out by a good piece of one-on-one defending by Tierney and, in the 82nd minute, Antonio headed against the outside of the upright from a Benrahma cross. For Arsenal, there was only soul-searching. – Guardian
