Premier League
Arsenal  0-2 West Ham United 

Tuesday, 26th December 2023
by James Haley

West Ham secured a spectacular win as they completed a second victory in north London this month.

The Hammers had an encouraging start to the game when a long throw from Vladimir Coufal fell to James Ward-Prowse on the edge of the box but he volleyed over.

The Gunners would grow into the game as some good link between Martin Odegaard and Ben White created a chance for Bukayo Saka, but the shot was straight at Alphonse Areola.

The Hammers would controversially take the lead as an Emerson cross ricocheted off Oleksandr Zinchenko and fell into Jarrod Bowen's path, who pulled it back for Tomas Soucek to volley into an empty net.

The goal was controversial because the ball looked to be out when Bowen squared it for Soucek, but due to a lack of conclusive evidence that the ball had crossed the line, the goal stood.

Gabriel Jesus looked to set up Saka as he drifted into the box and chipped it for a header for the English international winger, but it was excellently saved by Areola.

The game changed when Lucas Paqueta hobbled off and was replaced by Said Benrahma in the 30th minute as West Ham lost their main creative outlet.

A poor pass from Edson Alvarez started an Arsenal attack which resulted in Saka hitting the post and Leandro Trossard missing the target with the rebound. Declan Rice then looked to score against his old club when he attempted to hit the target from long range, but it curled over the bar.

It would be a West Ham player who would score the next goal - and against his old club, as Konstantinos Mavropanos rose highest to a Ward-Prowse corner and his header found the net via the underside of the crossbar.

Then came a wave of Arsenal attacks as the Hammers looked to protect their two-goal lead; the first one coming as White crossed the ball to the back post for Jesus to head over the bar. Another chance came when Odegaard?EUR(TM)s tricky feet stumped the resilient West Ham defence and the Norwegian crossed for Trossard. His touch took it past Angelo Ogbonna, but the shot was saved by Areola once again.

Areola would make another save as Odegaard found himself in space on the edge of the box and rifled a powerful shot towards goal but the French international tipped it round the post.

In added-on time, West Ham earned themselves a penalty as Emerson pounced on a Rice mistake in the box and was tripped by the England international. Said Benrahma stepped up, but the penalty was saved comfortably by David Raya.

Still, West Ham wouldn?EUR(TM)t care too much as the game ended 0-2 and the Hammers rose top sixth in the league heading into 2024 - while simultaneously putting a major dent in Arsenal's title aspirations.

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Player Ratings

Alphonse Areola
Near flawless performance from West Ham's number one as he made eight saves in the game to earn the Irons a clean sheet.


Vladimir Coufal
A robust performance from the Czech international and kept Gabriel Martinelli quiet even though he normally has a good game against West Ham.


Emerson Palmieri
Another great performance from the Italian as he showcased his attacking prowess when he put in the cross which got our first goal and also won the penalty at the end.


Angelo Ogbonna
Proved his doubters wrong (including me!) with some heroic blocks and tackles to keep West Ham in the game.


Konstantinos Mavropanos
Starting to become an established centre back for the Hammers and an excellent header to score his first goal for the club.


Tomas Soucek
Classic Soucek performance, getting into the box to score and working hard in the defensive third of the pitch.


Edson Alvarez
Excellent defensive display and once again lived up to his nickname of "Machin".


James Ward-Prowse
It's no coincidence that we play much better when he plays in that 10 role. Great delivery for the second goal.


Lucas Paqueta
Played well in the limited time he was on the pitch.


Mohammed Kudus
Great dribbling and will be missed when he goes to AFCON for a month.


Jarrod Bowen
Did well to keep the ball in for the first goal and once again did well to hold up the ball considering the lack of attacking support he gets in that system.



Substitutes

Said Benrahma
(Replaced Paqueta, 33) Lost our creativity in the attacking third once he came on and missed the penalty.


Lucasz Fabianski
Did not play.


Ben Johnson
Did not play.


Aaron Cresswell
Did not play.


Thilo Kehrer
Did not play.


Pablo Fornals
Did not play.


Maxwel Cornet
Did not play.


Danny Ings
Did not play.


Divin Mubama
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Alphonse Areola, Vladimir Coufal, Emerson Palmieri, Angelo Ogbonna, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Tomas Soucek, Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse, Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen.

Goals: Tomas Soucek 13 Konstantinos Mavropanos 55                .

Booked: None.

Sent off: None.

Arsenal : Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko (Nelson 64), Rice, Ødegaard, Trossard (Smith Rowe 79), Martinelli (Nketiah 64), Saka, Jesus.

Subs not used: Ramsdale, Cédric, Kiwior, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Elneny.

Goals: .

Booked: Nelson.

Sent off: None.

Referee: Michael Oliver.

Attendance: 60,261.

Man of the Match: Edson Alvarez.