It’s very easy to underestimate mid-table opponents when you get used to watching such a team as dominant, technical and as talented as we currently have at Arsenal and as Olympiacos proved in midweek, fans can get a little too comfortable and complacent.
West Ham fall into that category, with the greatest of respect, because when I think of them I think of the 11 goals Arsenal have scored in their last two visits to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, forgetting that West Ham have also in that time won on their last two visits to the Emirates Stadium.
With this being the third game in only six days, it was clear that Arteta was going to wisely rotate his players and with that in mind he rested Zubimendi and for the first time he paired Eze with Odegaard and Rice as his midfield behind Viktor, Saka and Leo.
The opening exchanges were fairly tame with both sides having issues. For Arsenal it was managing their energy and avoiding injuries, for West Ham it was trying to recover from a terrible start to the season, all the same Timber almost gave Arsenal an early lead. But the first real chance came around the 13th minute when Odegaard worked the ball to Saka who beat his man and delivered a tempting low cross to Gyokeres. The ball popped out of a melee and ran to Eze but with the goal gaping he shot over the bar to the amazement of everyone. Including himself.
Odegaard had taken a knock on his knee and after treatment tried to carry on, but following further treatment he had to leave the pitch. A clearly frustrated Martin was replaced by Zubimendi who had at least had half an hour to put his feet up. We later found out from Arteta that Odegaard had his knee in a brace – very worrying!
From then on Arsenal increased the pressure on West Ham with a succession of corners which had the Hammers defence creaking. Arsenal pretty much had West Ham pinned into their own half with only Raya in ours and eventually the pressure told.
Around 38 minutes a sparkling move saw Saka, under pressure, turn his marker and pass inside to Zubimendi who instantly passed forward to Eze who shot across the West Ham keeper, but an outstretched right hand saved the day briefly only for Declan Rice to smash home the rebound. Minutes later Calafiori hit the post after more great approach work from Saka and Timber. West Ham were rocking and very happy to hear the half time whistle.
The 2nd half saw Arsenal probe for a second goal without overextending themselves – it’s a long season – and Gyokeres came close as Trossard and Rice worked an opening but the chance was just out of reach. Finally a Zubimendi long ball put Timber away and he was clumsily fouled on the edge of the box. The referee awarded a penalty, yes really, and Bakayo put it away with the minimum of fuss. That was pretty much that.
Arteta then rang in the changes with Myles and Ethan coming on for the excellent Calafiori and Trossard on 74 and then Merino and Martinelli for Rice ( nursing a back injury) and Eze. Merino had a shot blocked on 82 and the game petered out.
Clean sheet, three points, job done and the cherry on top was Liverpool losing for the third successive time. Slot under pressure?
By Kev.
Morning Rico and all.
I don’t think Odegaard injury is that bad.
It’s only my opion but one thing I did notice last night was that Saka getting a bit greedy trying to do too much when he had players near him that free.
Chelsea done us a huge favour last night beating Liverpool and upsetting the media who had already penciled in Liverpool to win the premier league, not to mention the bookies.
Morning Geoff, Kev, all.
Nice one Kev, many thanks as always.
Not seen the game, just the goals. Eze must still be wondering how he missed that sitter..
Good morning all.
Just watched the highlights, lovely strike by Declan Rice for the first goal and an almost equally strike by Calafiori which hit the post a couple of minutes later.
As Odegaard left the ground wearing a knee brace I suspect his injury will keep him out for awhile. Declan, with a back injury should pull out of the England squad for the latest interlull.
A hard shift for our erstwhile centre back Mavropanus, but good to see him earn his corn.
Eze needs to be a little calmer when taking pot shots at goal and I’m sure that Viktor G will soon add to his tally.
Oops, we got a penalty too, correctly awarded and scored, with aplomb, by Bukayo Saka. 100 Prem appearances and a 100 goal involvements for our legend-in-the-making.
It’s not very often we celebrate a late Chelsea goal but that could be a crucial one,means Liverpool will have one less point at the end of the season.
I don’t think it’ll be long before Viktor starts knocking them in and as for Eze’s miss, he should put a clip of the Rice finish on repeat. 😜
Good morning Rico and all
Good match report Kev. A good picture of what went on in the game because while reading I kept visualizing what I saw yesterday.
As I said yesterday, it was the first time I saw an entire midfield replaced in an Arsenal game. Whole attacking department yes I have seen it multiple times. But never an entire defence or an entire midfield. What amazed me is that the game plan is so simple and yet detailed that each of the players know what is expected of them. At the same time their technical and tactical level is so high that they kept the tempo even though midfield was entirely changed.
Gyokeres did everything but score. He does pull the defence out of sorts and keeps them stretched. The goals will come…..and that is the only thing which pundits and opponents can criticize. When the goals begin coming they will shift their attention to something and/or someone else. Gyokeres’ technique almost seems like a rudimentary style. Still he’s fearless as he only may see a narrow slit between defenders yet he still barges through. Most players lower their heads to look at the ball at the last instant and that makes them lose sight of goal. Gyokeres doesnt. He keeps his eye on the direction he is going but not on the ball. A true hunter. He is not afraid to miss…..that is why eventually the goals will come
Afternoon Gooners, you’re welcome Rico, it was fun, and now it’s yours again 😁
Cheers Dev, tbh as much as I want Gyokeres to score and I know he will, I’m content with the mayhem he’s causing opposition defenders.
I’m looking forward to seeing Hincapie finally get some minutes and Kai can’t be far off.
It’s not necessarily going to be a case of Viktor or Kai, it might be both of them sharing the load?
Kennedy and Radford reloaded even…
The one thing that I have noticed with Gyokeres, the hunger to score gets more and more each match, and like others have said he will score soon and the little things he does off the ball that help his team mates is just as important as him scoreing, this team looks more balanced then the previous years. the other player I like to watch is Calafiori although some of his tackles are pushing the boundry is the type of player that I wanted us to get.
Nice write up Kev,
Afternoon Devil.
Ha ha Kev, thank you. Feel free to change your mind. 😂
As we said yesterday , we collected 3 points and a clean sheet without hardly breaking sweat..
It would be nice to have scored more goals but if you had been offered 2 nil 3 points at kick off I bet we would all have taken it.
Cheers Geoff, glad you enjoy my musings, Rico I’ll still chip in, as long as we’re winning. 🤞
I did read that Tomiyasu could return to the Premier League soon, btw, does anyone know how Tierney has been doing in Scotland, has he managed to stay fit, play successive games etc?
Let’s see if we can continue on our way without anyone (those who run, those who walk and those who sit) bothering us too much…
Odegaard has medial collateral ligament injury. He has withdrawn from national team duty and stayed at Sobha Training centre.
Tomiyasu must be fully fit again then..
That’s rotten re Odegaard ☹️
I would have Potter
Watched most of the Newcastle – Nottingham Forest game,the amount of holding and grappling was shocking,I thought the PGMOL was going to clamp down on it.
Mind you the ref (and VAR) were useless.
Bad news for Odegaard,knee ligament damage is serious.
The pgmol are full of hot air, I’m sure they make new rules just to remain relevant.
Not see Odegaard’s injury confirmed anywhere yet..
I’ve watched some of the Brentford City game and it’s almost totally boring. City persist in playing possession football with endless ten yard passes in midfield, backwards and side ways, in fact Guardiola Ball, the ultimate cure for insomnia.
Just why I used to get bored with Arsenal as we had a tendency to play in such a way.