West Brom vs. Arsenal: Winners and Losers from Premier League Game

Arsenal dispatched West Bromwich Albion away from home, nervously, and they took all three points to shoot up to fourth place.

Danny Welbeck's headed goal in the 60th minute was just enough to see the Gunners through. They had to withstand considerable pressure from the home side in the final 15 minutes and relied on a bit of luck to keep a clean sheet and come away with the win.

That's two consecutive wins for Arsenal after beating Borussia Dortmund in midweek. That seems like a fairly modest accomplishment, but it is an important one for a team utterly shorn of confidence last weekend—especially when one considers how difficult it is to win away from home right after a grueling Champions League game.

Let's take a look at who won and who lost (besides the clubs themselves) in this game.

Winner: Danny Welbeck

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Danny Welbeck desperately needed a goal. He had been without one for several games, and Olivier Giroud's return meant that he was under the gun more than he ever has been during his short Arsenal career.

Giroud's insertion into the starting lineup meant Welbeck was played as a roaming winger, alternating between the left and right side with Alexis Sanchez and occasionally swapping with Giroud in the middle.

Welbeck could have withered away in his less favored position, but he worked as hard as ever to set up his teammates and wiggle his way into good goalscoring positions himself. He was finally rewarded when Santi Cazorla cut the ball back brilliantly and Ben Foster could not keep out the resulting header, which was right at him.

Loser: Saido Berahino

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West Brom's best player this season had scored seven goals in 12 Premier League games before facing Arsenal, and it looked like he would add at least one more to his tally.

Saido Berahino tormented Arsenal's defense all game, playing off the shoulder of the last defender and making darting runs into little pockets of space. He never ceased to be a thorn in Arsenal's side.

Two particular moments of bad luck stand out: when the line judge incorrectly ruled him offside after excellently timing a run through Arsenal's high line and when a late-game header clanged off the crossbar.

Arsenal's defenders are no doubt relieved to see the back of Berahino, but those goalscoring opportunities will haunt him for a couple days.

Loser: Nacho Monreal

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Laurent Koscielny's much-awaited return meant that Nacho Monreal could finally move out of the center of defense, where he had seemed so out of place, and back to his natural left back position.

Normally, this would translate to a place on the bench so Kieran Gibbs could take up his usual spot there. But Arsene Wenger was evidently impressed by Monreal's recent performances (or Gibbs was tired, who knows) and the Spaniard was surprisingly given the nod.

This was a massive chance for Monreal to impress the manager and keep Gibbs out of the side for a little longer, but his body would not let him take advantage of it. He limped off after about half an hour and yielded to Gibbs. 

Arsenal's left backs seem to rarely be fit at the same time.

Winner: Per Mertesacker

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Per Mertesacker has looked uncomfortable and woefully out of form in the absence of Laurent Koscielny. But he was once again an assured and reliable presence at the back with his partner by his side.

When Mertesacker was the only true center back in the team, he was forced to do double duty and do the Frenchman's usual job of working high up the pitch to snuff out threats. But his glaring lack of pace prevents him from effectively doing so, and Arsenal were repeatedly exposed at the back.

Given the captaincy once again in the absence of Mikel Arteta, who missed out for the umpteenth time with another calf injury, Mertesacker stayed back and distributed the ball to the midfielders, settling things down when West Brom applied a bit of pressure.

Since Mertesacker needs Koscielny more than the reverse, let's hope the latter's ankle problems are cured and the two can play every game until Arsenal bring in a new body in January.

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