- Arsenal plot swoop to sign Atalanta star Ederson
- Arsenal eye swoop to sign Frankfurt star Omar Marmoush
- Confirmed line-ups: Arsenal vs Southampton: Jorginho and Sterling start
- Predicted Arsenal line-up against Southampton
- Arsenal interested in signing Atalanta star Ederson
- Arsenal ‘keen’ on signing Lille star Jonathan David
- Arsenal planning to step up efforts to sign Benjamin Sesko
- Arsenal express interest in Valencia star Cristhian Mosquera
- Arsenal interested in signing Girona star Miguel Gutierrez
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[Ratings & goals] West Ham 1-2 Arsenal: Holding & Nketiah star
Arsenal dug deep to secure a vital 2-1 victory over West Ham at the London Stadium this evening to reclaim fourth place in the table.
It was a slow start to the match but Arsenal managed to get themselves ahead when Rob Holding glanced home a lovely header from a Martin Odegaard corner in the 38th minute.
Once again, we conceded a quick-fire goal as West Ham equalised 5 minutes later when Jarrod Bowen’s shot deflected off Gabriel and past Aaron Ramsdale for 1-1.
Arsenal regained their lead shortly after the break when Gabriel headed home at the far post from a Gabriel Martinelli cross. We had chances to put the game to bed but ended up holding out for a vital 2-1 victory that moves us two points ahead of Tottenham.
Here are my ratings:
Ramsdale 7/10 | Terrific save to deny Rice an equaliser in the first half. Slightly fortunate to get away with it when he rushed out his area and almost took out Bowen, but solid performance.
Tomiyasu 7/10 | Great to have him back. So solid defensively and was having a good game before limping off holding his calf. Huge blow if he’s aggravated his injury again. Let’s hope it was just cramp!
Holding 8.5/10 | In for White and was superb. A couple of excellent blocks before opening the scoring with a fine header. Didn’t put a foot wrong all game and held firm at the end to help see out the match.
Gabriel 7.5/10 | Unlucky with deflection for the equaliser but should have got tighter to Bowen. Restored Arsenal’s lead with a header and was solid in the second half when Arsenal defended well to keep West Ham at bay.
Tavares 6/10 | Very poor for the West Ham equaliser. Poor positioning and has to do more to stop the cross. However, also showed some good moments, bringing the ball out of defence to ease pressure and instigate attacks.
Elneny 6.5/10 | A solid and unspectacular performance from the Egyptian. Disciplined in the middle of the park, and played a superb long-range pass set Nketiah free in the second half.
Xhaka 6.5/10 | Marshalled the midfield well for much of the game – although he played some sloppy passes in the second half.
Odegaard 6/10 | Was fairly quiet. Couldn’t really get in the game or impose himself going forward. Not at his best.
Saka 7/10 | Caused West Ham problems with a few tricky moments and set up the opening goal with a lovely corner.
Nketiah 8/10 | Terrific display. Worked his socks off all game, his pace caused West Ham lots of problems in the second half and he forced a few good saves from Fabianski. Link up play was also a lot better.
Martinelli 6.5/10 | Disappointing first half and failed to track back to help out for the equaliser. But improved after the break and lovely cross to set-up Gabriel for his goal.
Subs:
Cedric 6/10 | On for Tomiyasu and was solid.
Smith Rowe N/A | On too late.
Lokonga N/A | On too late.
Here are the goals: