Arsenal Climb Into Top 4 After Convincing 2-0 Win Over West Ham in London Derby

Arsenal Climb Into Top 4 After Convincing 2-0 Win Over West Ham in London Derby

SportsBrief.com, Babajide Orevba
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:51 PM
  • Arsenal continued to gather momentum in their quest to qualify for next season's Champions League
  • The Gunners brushed aside West Ham in a London derby on Wednesday to replace David Moyes’s men in fourth spot
  • Second-half goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Emile-Smith Rowe were enough to see off the Hammers at the Emirates

Arsenal sneaked into the top four after a comprehensive performance saw them beat West Ham 2-0 to replace David Moyes’ side in the Champions League places.

After a goalless first half, Gabriel Martinelli opened the scoring early in the second period, before substitute Emile-Smith Rowe made sure of the victory.

West Ham finished the game with 10 men as Vladimir Coufal was sent off for a second bookable offence as he was adjudged to have fouled Lacazette in the penalty area.

Arsenal fc
The Gunners were too strong for West Ham on Wednesday, December 15. Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC.
Source: Getty Images

Lacazette also saw his penalty saved but it mattered little as Mikel Arteta’s side continued their resurgence in the league.

Gunners continue resurgence - How it happened

After a minor slump that saw the Gunners lose to Manchester United and Everton, Arteta seems to have gotten his side back on track once again.

He named an unchanged side to the team that beat Southampton 2-0 and the Gunners showed intent from early on.

The game was pretty feisty as it was characterized by some harsh tackles from both sides, with referee Anthony Taylor having to calm things down at some point.

On the field, Arsenal dominated, with Kieran Tierney’s strike in the first half hitting the crossbar.

The West Ham defence was quite busy in the goalless first half as centre-back Craig Dawson was forced to make some crucial blocks to keep out the unrelenting attacks.

Youngster Bukayo Saka posed the biggest threat down the flank and he was heavily involved in Tierney’s effort that hit the post.

West Ham’s best chances came from Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen, but in all honesty, they were nothing too troubling for Aaron Ramsdale.

Eventually, the deadlock was broken with Martinelli latching onto a through ball from Lacazette to cooly slot home.

Lacazette’s penalty miss gave West Ham some hope but despite a late surge, Arsenal made sure of the result as Smith Rowe hit a crisp low shot for his seventh goal of the season.

Aubameyang stripped of captaincy

Legit.ng earlier reported that one notable thing about the match was the absence of Piere Emerick Aubameyang, who was recently stripped off club captaincy over alleged disciplinary issues.

Arteta was asked whether the Gabon international would be part of the squad in their next game against Leeds , to which he said they will "discuss it in the near future".

The 32-year old has so far missed the Gunners’ last two wins.

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Babajide Orevba
Babajide Orevba is a CAF accredited Nigerian journalist and HOD of the Local Desk with over 10 years of experience in media landscape.He studied NCE Political Science/Social Studies, AOCOED.
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