A shocking result happened in the Arsenal vs West Ham match when the Gunners had to lose with a score of 0-2 despite playing at home. This result caused them to officially lose the top spot to Liverpool.
Before welcoming West Ham, Arsenal was temporarily robbed of the top spot by Liverpool. Therefore, they are very determined to defeat Sledgehammer to reclaim the number 1 position on the rankings.
The Gunners pressed forward to attack from the first minutes. However, they had to receive a bucket of cold water in the 13th minute. Gabriel and Zinchenko clumsily defended, allowing Bowen to throw a pass to set up the ball for Soucek to finish from close range into Arsenal’s net. After consulting VAR, the referee determined that the ball was still on the goal line when Bowen made the assist.
Being behind, Arsenal attacked even more ferociously. However, sometimes it was because the Gunners’ strikers were too poor at finishing, sometimes luck was not smiling when the ball hit the post after Saka’s shot in the 42nd minute.
The first half ended with a temporary score of 1-0 in favor of the away team. And the scenario in the second half is almost similar to the first half.
While Arsenal still couldn’t find an equalizer, West Ham scored again quite early. In the 55th minute, midfielder Mavropanos jumped high and headed dangerously after a corner kick, doubling the gap for the away team. Notably, Mavropanos is a former Arsenal player.
In the remaining minutes, Arsenal was still busy attacking but could not once put the ball into West Ham’s net. Not only that, they were also lucky to not have to concede a third goal after Benrahma on the away team failed to beat Raya on penalties.
The final result of the match was 2-0 in favor of West Ham. This defeat caused Arsenal to officially lose the top spot to Liverpool with 2 points worse. They are also only 1 point ahead of the 3rd ranked team, Aston Villa, 3 points ahead of the 4th ranked team, Man City, but the Green Man played 1 match less. Meanwhile, West Ham surpassed MU to take 6th place.
Arsenal vs West Ham match lineup
Arsenal: Stripe, Ben White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko (Nelson 64′), Rice, Odegaard, Trossard (Smith-Rowe 79′), Saka, Martinelli (Nketiah 64′), Gabriel Jesus
West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Emerson, Soucek, Alvarez, Kudus, Ward Prowse, Paqueta (Benrahma 33′), Bowen
