Arsenal fell to a West Ham side who executed the perfect snatch-and-grab. The hit to the Gunners’ momentum could be a title-ending blow after the weekend is out.
Jarrod Bowen struck against Arsenal again, finishing off a counter-attacking move heading past David Raya after an Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross. It ended a frustrating half for the Gunners who created very little in the absence of an obvious centre-forward.
As Arsenal tried to probe for a goal, Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off for taking out Mohammed Kudus and being the last man in a nightmarish situation.
David Raya – Let down by his defenders for the first goal, sadly; little he could do to prevent the goal after the cross was allowed to flash across him to Bowen. 6
Jurrien Timber – Provided consistently strong energy for the Arsenal right-hand side. 6
William Saliba – Did well in the first half to prevent the danger of Mohammed Kudus. He was high up the field when Lewis-Skelly was caught and perhaps his positioning might have saved the youngster were he further back but this is nit-picking. 6
Gabriel Magalhaes – Question marks raised for the first goal, being unable to intercept the cross. 5
Riccardo Calafiori – After a few opportunities to score himself, the Italian was beaten far too easily by Aaron Wan-Bissaka, allowing him to cross for the opening goal. Replaced early in the second half, it was not a performance that will have helped him move ahead of Lewis-Skelly, who switched in for him in the second half before his red card. 5
Thomas Partey – Much of the usual quality from Partey. Progressive passes into the wide areas and one of the few presences trying to get the ball up-field at every opportunity. 7
Declan Rice – Certainly at fault for the Bowen goal, losing his man and not being committed enough to get in the way of the cross to his former teammate. He was replaced early in the second half after one of his weakest performances, irritatingly against his old side. 4
Martin Odegaard – In these moments, this is where you need your captain to step up and sadly the Norwegian simply didn’t. Passing short a free-kick, the boos rang out in frustration of the lack of direct play. 5
Ethan Nwaneri – Sadly he was not as impactful, not even close, to the match he had at Leicester the week before. 6
Leandro Trossard – Was arguably the most threatening player in the side but even he lacked clear-cut opportunities during the game. 6
Mikel Merino – Target man effect, heading down crosses for teammates, and played a good pass through to Declan Rice which was a wasted opportunity in the end. Ultimately though, the experiment was a considerably failure. 5
