Arsenal, who are still unbeaten in the Premier League, suffered a shocking defeat in the League Cup derby with West Ham United, losing 3-1. The Gunners had a lot of bad luck in the game, but they were also guilty of a lot offensively.
West Ham coach David Moyes rotated his starting eleven after the 1-0 defeat to Everton FC, bringing in Fabianski (goal), Mavropanos, Emerson, Soucek and Benrahma. They played for Areola (goal), Zouma, Cresswell, Ward-Prowse and Antonio.
Meanwhile, there were half a dozen changes at Arsenal FC, where coach Mikel Arteta brought on Raya (goal), Gabriel, Fabio Vieria, Jorginho, Nelson and Trossard in place of Ramsdale (goal), Saliba, Smith-Rowe, ex-West Ham pro Rice, Saka and Gabriel Martinelli compared to the 5-0 defeat to Sheffield United.
Double bad luck for the Gunners
So both coaches had shuffled their personnel around a lot, with Arsenal suffering the worse effects. The Gunners took the initiative against the Hammers, who were lurking on the counterattack, but got bogged down throughout. The combination play didn’t seem fluent, and small mistakes crept in again and again.
And then there was also bad luck: At the first corner of the game, Bowen’s ball sailed with spin into the danger zone, where White tried to clear the ball with his head, but it ended up in his own goal. The goal should not have counted, however, as Soucek had clearly held Arsenal keeper Ramsdale in this scene, but referee Simon Hooper had missed it.
It was a curious game. West Ham confined themselves entirely to defense and had not fired a single shot on goal in the entire first period. Nevertheless, the hosts went into halftime with a 1-0 lead because the Gunners were not determined and simply did not take advantage of the few chances they had – Kudus (25th) and Havertz (31st) still had the best ones after resting balls.
Arsenal’s first set also fails to ignite
Mikel Arteta could not have been satisfied with his side’s performance, as they failed to capitalize on their visual superiority. And it was to get worse: After Bowen had failed to beat Ramsdale (46th), Kudus got on the end of a long diagonal ball with luck and skill and scored without further ado to make it 2-0 (50th), before Bowen’s deflected long-range shot also hit the mark after an hour – 3-0.
The Gunners then brought on Saka and Gabriel Martinelle, with Rice having been substituted earlier. However, the visitors were unable to create any more danger, despite the fact that their players were now much better known, as the Hammers, who were standing too deep, were too stable.
The reigning Conference League winners finally beat the favored Arsenal, who at least managed to score a consolation goal in injury time through substitute Ödegaard to make it 1:3 (90.+6), and qualified for the quarterfinals of the League Cup.
Before that, however, it’s time to get on with the daily routine in the league. Next Saturday, West Ham host Brentford FC (4 p.m.), while Arsenal then face a tough away game at Newcastle United (6:30 p.m.).