Alexandre Lacazette’s second half goal, given after a lengthy VAR check, saw Arsenal edge West Ham 1-0 on Saturday afternoon in Game Week 29. With Watford and Bournemouth both losing and Brighton drawing, the Hammers could’ve potentially gone as high as 14th with a win against the Gunners, but their poor record at the Emirates continued as they slumped to defeat despite a strong performance.
Here are our talking points from the game.
Smash and grab win for Arsenal: Arsenal had nearly 70% of the ball, but they were very ordinary here. The quality of West Ham’s chances were far superior, and the visitors had six shots on target as opposed to the Gunners’ two.
The Arsenal goal also had an element of luck- Aubameyang’s pass took a wicked deflection off Declan Rice and it wrong-footed the Hammers defence before falling to Mesut Ozil, who chested the ball down to Lacazette to slot home from close range. It was also Ozil’s first open play assist in more than a year!
Hammers squander chances: As mentioned above, West Ham created several clear cut chances. They had a 2 on 1 in the 10th minute, with Michail Antonio and Sebastien Haller against David Luiz, but the French striker overran the ball. Another chance in the 18th minute saw Haller in a promising one on one with Bernd Leno, but the former’s first touch let him down. A third opportunity saw Diop’s header from a corner land at the feet of Antonio, but the striker inexplicably missed from point blank range. A fourth saw Antonio get a free header, but it was again squandered. Jarrod Bowen had a couple of decent chances as well, but it all came to naught.
West Ham took their chances against Southampton, but didn’t do so here. A frustrating afternoon for David Moyes’ charges.
Did Moyes wait too long to make his substitutions?: Unlike his opposite number Mikel Arteta, Moyes seemed content to have his starting XI on the pitch well into the second half, and only emptied the bench after Lacazette had netted the opener. Tomas Soucek came on in the 81st minute, Felipe Anderson in the 87th and Robert Snodgrass in the 90th. Should he have changed things up earlier?
Moyes’ winless run at Arsenal continues: Moyes had never won a game in fifteen previous trips to Arsenal which, combined with the Hammers’ poor away record this season, explained why the Gunners started favourites in the eyes of several pundits.
That wait will have to continue for the Scottish gaffer. Everything was in place for a famous away win, but West Ham lacked that cutting edge upfront.
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