Arsenal lost 2-0 to West Ham United on Thursday evening and surrendered the lead in the table to Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool FC. The Gunners simply failed to capitalize on their chances against an efficient Hammers side
Arsenal were without Germany international Havertz, who picked up his fifth yellow card in the top match at Liverpool (1-1) and was therefore suspended. He was replaced by Trossard, who completed the midfield three of Rice and Ödegaard. Mikel Arteta’s starting line-up was otherwise unchanged.
Coach David Moyes also made just one change for the visitors after the 2-0 win over Manchester United: Ogbonna started in place of Zouma (not in the squad).
Disputed goal for the Hammers counts
In the London derby, Arsenal quickly took control. The Hammers lurked on the counter-attack and were also very solid in defense. The Gunners struggled to create chances and were first called upon at the back in the 13th minute.
A cross from Emerson was poorly cleared by Zinchenko and Gabriel, allowing Bowen to pass back from the baseline to Soucek, who tucked the ball into the net. It was difficult to tell from the TV images whether the ball had already gone out of play when Bowen passed it. Referee Michael Oliver awarded the goal after a minute-long check.
With the lead behind them, the Hammers did not deviate from their plan and continued to concentrate on their defensive work, which was increasingly in demand in the following minutes. Arsenal became more dangerous and creative in attack and also created chances to score. It was Saka who failed twice, first against Areola (30′) and then against the post (42′)
Mavropanos scores from a corner – Arsenal unlucky
After the break, Arsenal continued to attack and resorted to long-range shots. Rice almost equalized against his former club (53′). A few minutes later, however, it was the visitors who struck again. This time, Mavropanos scored his first competitive goal for West Ham from a Ward-Prowse corner to make it 2-0 (55′).
Arsenal did not give up after this setback and kept West Ham’s defense constantly busy. However, Gabriel Jesus twice failed to score the equalizer with his head (65′, 66′). The visitors then defended their two-goal lead for the most part and were very compact, with the Gunners only rarely creating good chances. Areola also held Trossard’s shot in the 74th minute.
After Benrahma even missed a penalty (90.+5) to make it 3-0, the game ended 2-0 to the Hammers, who moved closer to the international ranks as a result. Arsenal lost their first home game of the season and relinquished the lead in the table to Liverpool.
The Gunners play one more game this year: On New Year’s Eve, they host Fulham FC (3pm). West Ham have two more days off before their clash with Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday (8.30pm).
