At the time of writing, Liverpool have already played this weekend and therefore I can say that we’re not only top of the league, we’re staying there for at least a fortnight! Considering we were 5 points behind Liverpool less than a week ago, that is some turnaround. Looking with a slightly broader lens, considering the injuries we’ve had and the games we’ve played already, this really is something to savour. It’s far too early to get carried away but it’s a brilliant position to be in and us Gooners need to savour every minute of it.
On the game itself, it wasn’t hugely convincing in respect of the scoreline, but I do think this was a marked improvement on the midweek performance against Olympiacos. The fact that the second goal came about 25 minutes earlier than in midweek certainly helped but I also think that we conceded a lot last chances this time around and we didn’t let the game drift. It has to be said that some of that is down to how West Ham set up, as they seemed more interested in avoiding a slapping than trying to attack us, but I think we handled it quite professionally. The one concern that has been carried over from Wednesday’s game, and probably last weekend as well, is that we’re not taking our chances. Whether that be striking the post or missing opening goals, we’re not generating enough goals from our chances and it’s something that needs to improve, and fast, if we want to stay top of the league.
The line-up
This was probably one of the most exciting lineups of the season so far, as Martin Odegaard returned to the starting lineup in the Premier League for the first time since the Nottingham Forest game. That was pretty exciting but on reading who was to start alongside him in midfield, a certain Eberechi Eze, this was then taken up a notch or two. Arsenal were finally going to play the midfield that many Arsenal fans thought that Arteta was pretty much incapable of selecting as he went for two 8s or 10s or however you want to dress it up, Arsenal’s midfield was focused heavily on the attack. As if that wasn’t enough, Bukayo Saka was also given the nod on the right wing, with Leandro Trossard and Viktor Gyokeres completing what looked to be a very strong and varied attack.
Gabriel shook off the midweek knock to partner Saliba in defence and Declan Rice was chosen to sit in front of said defence as Martin Zubimendi dropped to the bench for a well earned rest. The rest of the defence was as expected with the first choice fullbacks returning.
First half
Arsenal started well and looked dangerous from the off and had their first real site at goal inside the first 5 minutes with Jurrien Timber finding himself in an advanced position just inside the West Ham area, just to the right of centre after being found by a lovely throughball from Odegaard. Timber made decent contact with his right boot but it was straight at Alphonse Areola who saved with his legs.
It didn’t take long for Arsenal to fashion their next chance and this one was gilt-edged and should definitely have led to the opening goal. Saka’s brilliant burst to the byline and cutback caused all sorts of problems with Gyokeres scrapping on the goal line for a tap-in before the ball bounced out to Eze about 7 yards out with the goal gaping. The midfielder snatched at the chance and somehow the ball flew comfortably over the bar and Eze’s wait for a first Emirates goal goes on. It wasn’t quite miss of the season territory but it will know doubt find its way into an embarrassing YouTube compilation before the season’s out.
The Emirates was surprisingly quite since kick off but the next incident of note left the place pretty much silent as Martin Odegaard went down after a clash of knees and despite his best efforts to run it off was substituted with only half an hour gone. The captain’s substitution took him into the record books for all of the wrong reasons as he became the first Premier League player to be substituted in the first half of three successive home matches. It was a devasting blow as Odegaard was back to his best in midweek and had looked really good already in this game so to see him limp off for a third time in a row was really heartbreaking and the Emirates fell flat after his departure. On came Martin Zubimendi, with Declan Rice moving further forward alongside Eze, with Arteta deciding against going like for like and bringing on Ethan Nwaneri.
If anyone was questioning Zubimendi’s introduction (I know I was!) they were soon to be silenced as the Spaniard turned on the style and got Arsenal ticking from the moment he came on.
Not long after his introduction, Zubimendi played a lovely ball into the path of Eze who strode forward and struck a firm effort from the right hand side, just inside the box which Areola did well to push away. However, in contrast to the earlier chance from Eze, when the ball came back out into a dangerous this time around, Declan Rice was there to stride onto it and guided a well taken side foot finish high into the net from around 12 yards out. Not an easy finish, but it was made to look routine by a world class footballer, who, alongside Zubimendi, was now running this game. The celebration was again muted from the former Hammer but there was a few stern glances in the away fans’ direction , which was no doubt in response to the stick they had been giving their former captain all game.
The final chance of the half fell to Riccardo Calafiori outside the penalty area (where else would the left back be?!) who struck a fine effort towards the bottom right of West Ham’s goal with his weaker right foot. The ball bit Areola but came back off the post, hit Areola and then stopped dead on the line and waited for a West Ham defender to clear to safety. It was so unfortunate from the Italian and from Arsenal in general, as they went into half time just the one goal up, which was hardly reflective of the 45 minutes of football that everyone had just witnessed.
Second half
The second half followed the same pattern as the first, with Arsenal completely dominating the ball and West Ham offering up little or nothing going forward, but the chances were not coming as thick and fast as they were in the previous period.
There were a few half chances here and there but the next big chance would again fall to an Arsenal player and would lead to the awarding of a penalty to the Gunners. Another beautiful ball by Martin Zubimendi sent Jurrien Timber goal side of Diouf and racing towards the West Ham area. The West Ham fullback clearly brought him down but in my opinion, this should probably have been a free kick rather than a penalty. The foul clearly starts outside the penalty area and then ‘continued’ into the box, but for me they both fell into the area and that has always been a free kick as far as I’m concerned. The correct decision according to the new guidelines, but if it was given against Arsenal, I wouldn’t be happy!
So now attention turned as to who was going to take it…
I’m still undecided on whether or not I fully agree with what happened next. On the one hand, we have the captain, star player and all round living top man, Bukayo Saka, playing his 200th game for Arsenal and looking for his 100th goal contribution, who wants to take it. On the other hand, we have our new star striker, Viktor Gyokeres who is pretty much a penalty expert and is in dire need of a goal and would be desperate to take this.
I’ve heard arguments saying that Bukayo Saka deserved to take it, as he had the chance to get his 100th goal involvement and so on. I really don’t care much about what is essentially a fabricated milestone. Do you remember the game when Thierry Henry got his 100th goal involvement in his 200th game for Arsenal? No? Me neither, because no one cared about things like that back in those days. The term ‘goal contribution’ hadn’t been invented yet!
Other arguments are saying that Gyokeres needs to earn his next goal rather than being given it, as Kai Havertz was given his first goal for Arsenal against Bournemouth a few seasons ago. I think this argument has much more substance to it that the previous one, but I’m still not convinced. Gyokeres is a striker who is renowned for taking penalties so I don’t see it as charity if he were to take this one.
The way I look at it, which was better for Arsenal? Assuming they both scored. Saka reaching his milestone or our star striker breaking his goal drought. Feels like it would be the latter to me, which is why I’m so divided on this one.
At the end of the day, we all absolutely love Saka and are really happy for him to reach such a milestone in such an amazingly short period and he stepped up and tucked it home beautifully and Arsenal went 2 goals to the good, so who really cares. Food for thought though.
There were a few more changes as Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly entered the fray around the 75 minute mark with Trossard and Calafiori making way but it didn’t really impact the game in any meaningful way as it felt like Arsenal were comfortable a 2-0 and the game sort of meandered to a close from there.
There was a worrying moment when Declan Rice went off injured towards the end, but apparently it’s nothing major so it was just the one serious injury from today’s game!
Three key takeaways
The Declan Rice/West Ham love affair is well and truly over
Maybe that’s a bit dramatic. I’m sure Declan Rice still has a bit place in his heart for West Ham, after all they have done for him and the sort of bloke that Rice is. What I mean is, it seems like Rice is done apologising for scoring against them and I could see him actually celebrating if he scores next time out, as judging by the look he gave the away fans after his goal, he’s done being the good guy if they are going to abuse him all game.
Eberechi Eze has now gone from ‘where does he fit in’ to being the main man (for 4 weeks at least)
After the excitement and furore of signing Eberechi Eze from under the noses of Tottenham (just wanted to bring that one up again!!) died down a bit, attention was turned to where he would play and after the first few games, he looked a bit awkward out on the left and it felt like we might have a problem here. Fast forward a few weeks and a few excellent performances from central areas and another injury to Martin Odegaard and now all of a sudden we are relying on Eze to be the main creator for the whole team for the next four weeks! That’s some turnaround so now we just have to hope (and I think that he is), that Eze is up to the task.
Arsenal passed their first real low block challenge of the season with flying colours
I know we’ve had home games against Leeds and Nottingham Forest already this season and both sat pretty deep, but in no disrespect to either team, Leeds are still adjusting to this level and Forest have had a recent change in Manager so neither were at their defensive best when they came to The Emirates. The same can probably be said of West Ham, who themselves have a new Manager still settling in, but Nuno is a great organiser and there’s no doubt this West Ham side already look more solid with him at the helm. So with all that said, the early signs of this new look Arsenal side’s ability to beat the low block have been really promising, as West Ham never looked likely to repeat last season’s shut out.