Arsenal beat West Ham 2-1 on Sunday to regain the top four spot in the Premier League.
The Gunners were knocked out of the Champions League after Tottenham Hotspur beat Leicester 3-1 earlier in the day. But goals from defenders Rob Holding and Gabriel eliminated Jarrod Bowen's goals and ensured their return to form. During the first half hour at London Stadium, both teams had a hard time watching, and both teams played a long game of bugs and scaled up each other. Finally The game came to life after Pablo Fornals kindly broke the ball at the edge of the box. Manuel Lanzini also saw an effort from inside the box blocked by center-back Holding, who replaced the injured Ben White.
Arsenal took the lead from a corner eight minutes into the match. Bukayo Saka jumped in, and Holding jumped past Lukasz Fabianski for his second league career goal, and Holding climbed high. West Ham equalized just before the game. Declan Rice, who had previously watched Aaron Ramsdale save his head by Aaron Ramsdale, was a key figure in the construction. It then passed Bowen and sent a less than an inch-high pass to Vladimir Kufel to the cracked bottom. Corner Arsenal did not take long to regain their one-goal lead, but West Ham were knocked out early in the second half. The Hammers failed to clear a corner on Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli crossed for Gabriel to head home with his head back.
The strike initially kicked off West Ham, and the game stabilized with premium opportunities. Twenty minutes later, Eddie Nketiah slipped and fell to his feet, only to be shot in the wrong direction by Post. The central striker then rescued Fabianski with a daisy cutter from a distance. Towards the end of the match, West Ham brought in both Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio as they sought revenge. However, the Hammers did not give Arsenal a goalless draw. Their guests kept it for an important victory.
Here are your player ratings ...
Lukasz Fabianski (GK) - 5/10 - Few people can really score a goal. He was holding Gabriel's hand, but the power was too great.
Vladimir Kufa (RB) - 5/10 - Bowen created as much space as he could from right to left to score. The defense is very weak and one mistake can easily be punished.
Kurt Zouma (CB) - 5/10 - Seems a little tired but has recently played a lot of football. West Ham are hoping for a full recovery in the second leg with Eintracht Frankfurt.
Aaron Cresswell (CB) - 6/10 - West Ham have missed out on a wide range of attacking genres, but have made impressive form as central defenders.
Ryan Fredericks (LB) - 6/10 - Good defensively, but on the right is less effective than advancing to the left.
Declan Rice (CM) - 7/10 - Bowen's leveler was created with a magnificent long ball. It was not the only eye he had lost.
Mark Noble (CM) - 6/10 - Not a lot of mobile phones, but a lot of pain. Choose your transit wisely.
Jarrod Bowen (RW) - 7/10 - Lucky for his goal, but everyone counts. Early in the second half, pre-registration for the demonstration was collected, but it was clearly a long way off.
Manuel Lanzini (AM) - 4/10 - Overcoming a lot of mistakes in the first half. It did not really improve and was eventually pulled out.
Pablo Fornals (LW) - 4/10 - I finally got some good advice, but it's hard to get rid of them.
Said Benrahma (ST) - 4/10 - Wrapped around the edges of the game. Nothing was done on Thursday to strengthen his case.
SUB- Michail Antonio (ST) - 5/10
SUB- Tomas Soucek (CM) - 5/10
SUB- Andriy Yarmolenko (ST) - None.