DBasia.news – Arsenal won a narrow victory at the London Derby against West Ham with a score of 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium. The goal in the match was scored by Alexandre Lacazette.
For Arsenal this is the third straight victory in the Premier League since August 2019. Conversely, for West Ham manager, David Moyes, this defeat prolongs his poor report card at home to Arsenal. Moyes has never won in 16 Premier League games when they traveled to Arsenal, four draws and 12 losses.
Despite appearing at the opponent’s headquarters, West Ham took the initiative to attack first. Jarrod Bowen almost brought the Hammers ahead if his shot wasn’t saved by Bernd Leno.
Ten minutes in, Arsenal’s game improved. The first opportunity was obtained by Arsenal in the 13th minute with Mesut Ozil’s kick. Unfortunately Ozil’s chances were still thwarted by West Ham goalkeeper, Lukasz Fabianski.
Arsenal continued to receive a golden opportunity in the 22nd minute with a corner kick situation. Sokratis Papastathopoulos who escaped from guard was able to make a header towards the goal, but the ball still hit the crossbar.
Despite Arsenal’s game, Mikel Arteta’s players have not been able to present a significant threat in West Ham’s defense. Conversely to West Ham, which were only able to occasionally launch a counterattack also still hit the back line of the host. The goalless score lasted until the break.
In the second half, the scenario of the game did not change. Arsenal who controlled the ball up to more than 70 percent in the first half still dominated. The short passes that were applied by Arteta’s forces only made the West Ham players wait, while looking for opportunities to counterattack.
In the 53rd minute, the opportunity was obtained by the host through Eddie Nketiah. However, the first-ball that was released after receiving a pass from Bukayo Saka was still saved by Fabianski using his legs.
After three minutes, it was West Ham’s turn to threaten. But through quick reflexes, Leno was still able to dismiss Michail Antonio’s header.
An hour away, Arteta played Alexandre Lacazette to replace Nketiah to sharpen the attack. However, Arsenal were still struggling to release the kick to the opponent’s goal.
West Ham received a chance in the 66th minute. Through the action alone, Bowen let off a horizontal kick from outside the penalty box. But the ball still lead right into Leno’s position.
The 78th minute, Arsenal finally managed to break the deadlock through Lacazette’s goal. Although it was annulled due to being offside, VAR finally decided a legitimate goal. Arsenal won 1-0.
West Ham almost equalized in the 82nd minute. Again, Leno appeared as Arsenal’s hero. This time Leno managed to break the opportunity that Sebastien Haller received.
Arsenal were able to maintain a one goal advantage until the fight was over. These results brought Arsenal up to ninth place in the Premier League standings with 40 points. While this defeat has made West Ham fail to stay away from the red zone. Currently West Ham are in 16th place with 27 points.
Line-up:
ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Bernd Leno; Sokratis, David Luiz, Pablo Mari, Bukayo Saka; Dani Ceballos, Granite Xhaka; Nicolas Pepe (Nelson 69), Mesut Ozil (Bellerin 87), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang; Eddie Nketiah (Lacazette 60).
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Lukasz Fabianski; Jeremy Ngakia, Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell; Declan Rice, Mark Noble (Soucek 81); Jarrod Bowen (Snodgrass 89), Pablo Fornals (Felipe 87), Michail Antonio; Sebastien Haller.