West Ham hosted Arsenal in a London derby this afternoon with ramifications at both ends of the Premier League table.
Mikel Arteta’s men came into today’s contest sitting atop the championship, three points ahead of title holders Manchester City, while their hosts sat perilously above the relegation places. Last time out the Gunners squandered a two-goal lead at Liverpool to play out a 2-2 draw, meanwhile, the Hammers bagged an important victory over Fulham.
Attention subsequently fell on Arsenal following City’s emphatic 3-1 win over Leicester on Saturday evening and they once again snatched a point from the jaws of victory. After racing into a 2-0 lead, the Gunners shoot themselves in the foot and went into the break 2-1 up, before letting the hosts back in after the break.
In turn, Arsenal failed to win back-to-back Premier League games despite having a two-goal lead in each for the very first time, with the Gunners becoming only the fifth side ever to do so in competition history.
“You just feel Arsenal are going to have to go to Manchester City and win now if they want to win the title,” Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports commentary.
Arsenal, though, can still go seven points clear if they beat Southampton this upcoming Friday as Pep Guardiola’s men will not be on FA Cup semi-final duty. The champions will then have two games in hand before the much-anticipated April 26 clash between first and second at the Etihad.
In the meantime here’s how the players rated at the London Stadium:
West Ham
Lukasz Fabianski – 6 – Gutted to have picked the ball out from his goal twice before a quarter of the game had been played. Since conceding that second the former Arsenal shot-stopper put in a respectable shift.
Aaron Cresswell – 7 – Showed the grit Hammers supporters expect from their players. Even took a bit of a hit when making a rare surge up the field.
Thilo Kehrer – 6.5 – Things started poorly for the German international, who either needlessly caught out in possession or made unnecessary errors consequently putting his team on the back foot, he did make amends by providing the assist for Bowen’s goal.
Kurt Zouma – 6 – Every clearance he made was cheered on loudly by the London Stadium faithful.
Vladimír Coufal – 5 – Made his 100th West Ham appearance in all competitions today. He marked the occasion by finishing the game defensively strong.
Declan Rice – 8 – Has been linked with a summer move to Arsenal the England international began the game with a point to prove, but slowly faded as the Gunners stamped their authority on the game, but took full advantage of a momentary lapse in concentration from Partey which ultimately led to a West Ham spot-kick
Tomás Soucek – 6 – To say he struggled would be an understatement. Had just 20 touches of the ball. The fewest of any outfield players who started today’s game.
Saïd Benrahma – 7 – Four of Benrahma’s five Premier League goals this season have been penalties. He wasn’t going to miss from 12 yards when handed an opportunity West Ham thought wouldn’t come as the Gunners thoroughly dominated possession.
Lucas Paquetá – 6.5 – Won the penalty but was too often erratic in his play. That chaotic energy, though, might be one factor behind West Ham’s unlikely resurgence following a torrid opening spell.
Jarrod Bowen – 8 – He’s enjoyed home against the Gunners before, today was looking quite the opposite as he struggled against a returning Tierney, but the four-time capped England international would rise to register the equaliser. “Nobody expected anything from us, maybe that worked to our advantage,” he said afterwards. “We dug in and kept working and a point is massive for us.”
Michail Antonio – 7.5 – Inadvertently gave away the game’s second penalty that handball shouldn’t take away from his overall performance. Never stopped hustling or driving forward. Antonio might not be enjoying a prolific season, even hitting the woodwork late on, but no one can question his work ethic.
Substitutes:
Maxwel Cornet (for Antonio 87) – N/A – A late sub.
Flynn Downes (for Paquetá 87) – N/A – A late sub.
Pablo Fornals (for Benrahma 90+1) – N/A – A late sub.
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Arsenal
Aaron Ramsdale – 6.5 – Once again the Gunners were indebted to Ramsdale who stepped up the second West Ham started piling pressure. That being said, he’d be kicking himself that another clean sheet wasn’t kept.
Kieran Tierney – 6 – Making only his fifth Premier League start this season, and first since this reverse fixture in December, after Oleksandr Zinchenko was ruled out due to a tight groin problem.
Gabriel Magalhães – 5.5 – Attempted to pull out but Paqueta made contact leading to West Ham’s first-half penalty. Until that moment he’d been his usual composed self even putting in a masterclass of defending to usher Antonio away from the goal. Also somewhat guilty of the second West Ham goal. Kehrer recycled a ball back over Gabriel who just stood and watched Bowen charge onto it and bury it past Ramsdale.
Rob Holding – 5 – Survived an early handball scare but often struggled when dealing with a rampant Antonio.
Ben White – 6 – The former centre-back is building up a strong case to be named the league’s preeminent right-back. Another strong performance going forward — the build-up for Arsneal’s opener, in which White made the pass for Jesus’ goal, was reminiscent of the championship days under Wenger.
Granit Xhaka – 5.5 – All eyes were on him following last weekend’s turning point at Anfield, the Swiss midfielder was on his best behaviour though helpless as Arsenal squandered another two-goal lead.
Thomas Partey – 4 – Too casual in possession and was robbed by Rice which ultimately led to West Ham winning a 31st-minute penalty against the run of play. He would moments later enter the referee’s book after bringing down Benrahma following another spell of sloppy play.
Martin Ødegaard – 7 – Doubled his side’s advantage in the 10th minute. This was his eighth Premier League goal on the road this season which is the most by an Arsenal midfielder in a single campaign in the competition.
Gabriel Martinelli – 6.5 – Has now been directly involved in 10 goals across his last eight Premier League appearances.
Gabriel Jesus – 7 – Scored in a third consecutive Premier League start. His presence was not terribly missed as Arsenal kept keeping on but they are more vicious with him in the lineup. At times he took up an unorthodox right-back spot not quite Samuel Eto’o during his time with Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.
Bukayo Saka – 5 – Stepped up from 12 yards but could only drag his penalty wide. It proved costly as West Ham would go up the other end and equalise. Before taking on that responsibility the winger had been unusually quiet.
Substitutes:
Leandro Trossard (for Jesus 66) – 5 – A creative spark was needed as soon as Arsenal threw away their healthy lead and normally Trossard would be that man but he seldom found the space and time to work his magic.
Jorginho (for Partey 66) – 5 – Brought on to help Arsenal regain possession and though he kept the ball ticking along Jorginho was unable to unlock West Ham’s rearguard.
Fabio Vieira (for Tierney 85) – N/A – A late sub.
Reiss Nelson (for Martinelli 85) -N/A – A late sub.
Eddie Nketiah (for Ødegaard 90) – N/A – A late sub.