Arsenal vs. West Ham United: Score, Grades, Reaction from London Derby
Arsenal maintained their fine Premier League form with a 3-0 victory at home to West Ham United on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium.
The hosts dominated the first half with a vintage Arsenal performance but had to wait until stoppage time for the opener, which Olivier Giroud netted in fine style. West Ham improved at the beginning of the second half, but the Gunners doubled their lead in the 81st minute through Aaron Ramsey.
With the points secured, substitute Mathieu Flamini added Arsenal's third in the 84th minute to apply the finishing touches.
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The win was Arsenal's fifth straight in the league and will give the Gunners momentum as they chase a top-four finish along with progress in the UEFA Champions League. With 57 points through 29 matches, Arsene Wenger's men now trail Manchester City—who play later Saturday—by just one point. As the run-in approaches, Arsenal now appear in good position to finish in the top four yet again and thus qualify for next season's Champions League.
Meanwhile, the Gunners have work to do on the European front. Following a 3-1 loss to Monaco last month in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie, Arsenal must conjure an exceptional performance in Tuesday's second leg.
Up next for Arsenal in the Premier League is a trip to Newcastle United next Saturday. West Ham, who are winless in seven league matches, host Sunderland the same day.
Arsenal quickly took control of the match from the opening whistle, dominating possession and pinning West Ham in their own end. But while the Gunners probed the box throughout the opening half, they needed all 45 minutes to score the first goal.
The home side created their first chance in the fifth minute, as a Giroud flick freed Theo Walcott in the box. Walcott had time to shoot but hesitated, allowing West Ham defender James Collins to win the ball with a tackle. Arsenal appealed for a penalty, but referee Chris Foy allowed play to continue.
In the 15th minute, Arsenal's Calum Chambers picked out Alexis Sanchez with a curling cross from the right. Sanchez directed a downward header on target, but Adrian dived to his left to make a good save.
West Ham's first chance came in the 22nd minute, as Matthew Jarvis raced free down the left side before pulling back a cross from the byline. The ball reached Kevin Nolan, who volleyed on target from the edge of the box. David Ospina saved for Arsenal to keep the match level.
Arsenal piled on the pressure as the first half wore on. In the 24th minute, Giroud shot into the side netting from a tight angle on the left. Three minutes later, Adrian tipped a Ramsey effort over the bar following a Chambers cross from the right flank.
Adrian saved again in the 33rd minute, keeping out Walcott's shot from close range after the Arsenal man ran onto Ramsey's slide-rule pass. The West Ham goalkeeper then stopped a Sanchez volley in the 35th minute after Ramsey floated a cross to the back post from the right side of the box.
In the 43rd minute, a flowing Arsenal move set up Mesut Ozil for a shot in the middle along the edge of the box. Adrian saved again, parrying the ball into the path of Walcott, who was unable to turn the rebound on target.
Frustration was beginning to build at the Emirates, but the opening goal finally arrived in stoppage time, as Giroud finished off another fine team move in impressive fashion.
Ozil and Ramsey combined along the edge of the area before Ramsey set up Giroud on the right side of the box. With his favoured left foot, Giroud powered a high shot in off the far post—the ball took a slight deflection along the way—for a 1-0 Arsenal lead at half-time.
"HT at Emirates. Good all-round performance from Arsenal but they needed that goal from Giroud. West Ham will have to change approach now.
— Alex Dimond (@alexdimond) March 14, 2015"
Disaster nearly struck the Gunners in the 49th minute. Jarvis again found space along the right and crossed into the danger area, where Diafra Sakho was lurking. Ospina was unable to reach the cross, forcing Laurent Koscielny to scoop the ball clear. But Koscielny's clearance only went as far as Nolan, who volleyed over the bar from a tight angle.
West Ham enjoyed a dominant spell over the next 10 minutes but found clear chances hard to come by. Their best opportunity came in the 59th minute, when Jarvis blasted over the bar after Arsenal failed to clear a corner.
The match saw an unusual substitution in the 60th minute, as Anthony Taylor replaced the injured Foy as referee. Arsenal followed suit five minutes later, with Danny Welbeck replacing Sanchez.
Arsenal had the next chance, as Ramsey bounced a volley wide of the target in the 69th minute. The home supporters voiced their displeasure at the outcome after Ozil declined to shoot from a promising position, instead passing across the box to Walcott, who set up Ramsey.
Both teams made substitutions soon after. For Arsenal, Santi Cazorla replaced Walcott. For West Ham, Morgan Amalfitano came on for Jarvis.
With only one goal still separating the two sides, the game seemed set for a tense finish. But Arsenal finally doubled their lead in the 81st minute following a bit of fine interplay between Giroud and Ramsey.
The move started as Giroud allowed a Chambers throw-in to roll to Ramsey, who initiated a give-and-go with the French forward inside the box. Receiving the return pass from Giroud, Ramsey side-footed into the net for 2-0.
It was 3-0 just three minutes later. It was another excellent team move, with Cazorla and Giroud combining for a give-and-go along the edge of the box. Cazorla then crossed to the back post for Flamini, who had entered the match as a substitute only moments before. Unmarked, Flamini tapped in for Arsenal's third.
The third goal ended West Ham's resistance, allowing Arsenal to stroll to victory over the final five minutes and stoppage time. But with their match against Monaco looming on the horizon, the Gunners have no time to relax.
Grades
| David Ospina | 6 |
| Calum Chambers | 6.5 |
| Per Mertesacker | 7 |
| Laurent Koscielny | 8 |
| Nacho Monreal | 7 |
| Aaron Ramsey | 9 |
| Francis Coquelin | 8 |
| Theo Walcott | 6 |
| Mesut Ozil | 7 |
| Alexis Sanchez | 6 |
| Olivier Giroud | 9 |
| Danny Welbeck (for Sanchez, 65') | 7 |
| Santi Cazorla (for Walcott, 72') | 7 |
| Mathieu Flamini (for Ozil, 83') | 7 |
| Adrian | 7 |
| Joey O'Brien | 6 |
| James Collins | 7 |
| Cheikhou Kouyate | 6 |
| Aaron Cresswell | 6 |
| Mark Noble | 6 |
| Alex Song | 7 |
| Stewart Downing | 5 |
| Kevin Nolan | 5 |
| Matthew Jarvis | 7 |
| Diafra Sakho | 5 |
| Morgan Amalfitano (for Jarvis, 75') | 6 |
| Nene (for Noble, 82') | No rating |
Reaction
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, via PremierLeague.com:
"West Ham were up for it. They had a go and I think we played very well in the first half, created chances but couldn't finish our chances off. Their keeper kept them in the game.
We scored a great goal just before half-time. Second half coming out West Ham put us under pressure and we needed to be well orgasnised and stop them from scoring.
In the last 20 minutes we were on top of the game and always looked like we could score goals.
"
Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud, via BBC Sport:
"We missed a lot of chances but it's nice to get the win because we created chances so it's a good thing. We're struggling a bit with our efficiency but it's still 3-0 so we are very happy and it's a good result ahead of our Champions League game on Tuesday.
"
West Ham assistant Neil McDonald, via PremierLeague.com:
"We tried to stay in the game. They scored right on half-time where they have breached us a couple of times and Adrian made a few really good saves.
It really knocked the stuffing out of us coming in at half-time 1-0 down. We thought we were going to keep a clean sheet.
The manager asked them to pass the ball a little bit better second half, to try and play the ball in behind and make sure we pushed up the field a bit. I think we did that for a good 25 minutes and put them under pressure, had a couple of half chances which was decent enough
Then to concede two goals in a short space of time really killed us off.
"
Follow @MiguelCominguez
