Arsenal go second after wild West Ham shoot-out
Odegaard Martin Scoring After His Goal Side's (left) Celebrates Arsenal's Third
A BIZARRE, BRILLIANT, BARMY match which featured two penalties and SEVEN goals in the first half alone. The bottom line is that Arsenal get only the three points which is enough to move them up to second place, within six of Premier League leaders ahead of their big Sunday match against Manchester City.
Mikel Arteta’s men scored six here last season, four in the first half, but this time were facing a West Ham side apparently on a high after their impressive win at Newcastle at the start of the week.
They could not cope with Arsenal’s precision passing, persistent pressing and mastery of the set piece and Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka in particular. The England winger was their man of the match in the midweek Champions League routing at Sporting win and maintained his momentum by creating two and scoring one goal before the break. Saka has now been directly involved in 15 Premier League goals this season - second only to the 16 by Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah It was a trademark corner and Gabriel header that got Arsenal up and running on ten minutes. The Arsenal supporters started chanting their tribute song for their Brazil defender as soon as the corner was awarded. Gabriel made his way to the back of the pack at the far post and then made his way towards the near post, during which time he managed to wriggle away from his marker and time his arrival just as Saka’s corner was dipping his way on the edge of the six-yard box. West Ham knew it was coming, everyone here did. Nothing anyone could do to stop it though.
Arsenal’s second, in the 27th minute, was sublime football and Saka was again the man with the assist. He exchanged a silky one-two with captain Martin Odegaard and slid the ball along the six yard area for Leandro Trossard to tap in.
The third was a penalty, seven minutes later, following a foul on Saka by Lucas Paqueta. Odegaard was handed the ball this time. The Norway international looked a natural from the sport and he curled the ball past Lukasz Fabianski into the inside corner of the West Ham keeper’s side netting. Leandro Trossard sent Kai Havertz clear of the West Ham defence to score the next, just two minutes later.
Frustrated West Ham fans streamed out of the stadium in angry dismay, meaning many missed the mini comeback. Aaron Wan-Bissaka pulled one back by finishing off a brilliant Carlos Soler through ball. Consistently inconsistent referee Anthony Taylor awarded West Ham a free kick following a 40th minute Paqueta dive. Emerson’s ensuing free-kick strike was world class, however, and now the west Ham fans believed again.
Arsenal seemed to be trying to run the clock down for half-time when they won a corner four minutes into time added on at the end of the first period. The cross in was again aimed for Gabriel, but this time Fabianski took matters into his own fist and punched the Arsenal man as he attempted to score. A penalty and a yellow card followed, as did Saka’s goal and Arsenal’s fifth.
A few chances at either end in the second half but west Ham did nothing to suggest they might threaten a proper comeback. A great one for the neutral, at least the first half, but an even better one for Arsenal.
Fabianski 5; Wan-Bissaka 7, Todibo 5, Kilman 6, Emerson 6 (Coufal 65); Soucek 6, Paqueta 5 (Guido Rodriguez 78); Bowen 6, Soler 6 (Irving 78), Summerville 6 (Alvarez 46); Antonio. Subs: Areola, Luis Guilherme, Scarles, Korbinia
Raya 7; Timber 7, Saliba 7, Gabriel 8 (Kiwior 46), Calafiori 6 (Zinchenko 56); Odegaard 8 (Jesus 74), Jorginho, 6 Rice 6; Saka 8 (Sterling 74), Havertz 6, Trossard 7. Subs: Neto, Tierney, Martinelli, Nichols, Nwaneri.
: Anthony Taylor 4