A win’s a win as Arsenal get over the line at West Ham

West Ham 2 Arsenal 1 
Premier League 
Sunday 1st May 2022  4.30pm   

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how points are won, as long as they are won. The 90 minutes yesterday at the Olympic Stadium were a hard watch, and certainly one I can safely say I won’t take the opportunity to catch again in the years ahead. 

West Ham started six of the players that were picked for the semi final against Eintracht Frankfurt, although there were some key men left out – not least Antonio and Soucek. Arsenal brought in Martinelli, Tomiyasu and Holding in three changes from the win against Manchester United, as Smith Rowe and Cedric dropped to the bench, with Ben White out of the picture due to a tight hamstring. There was little doubt that West Ham’s priority is the second leg of their semi final next Thursday, and it was reflected in their organization and relative lack of ambition in this game. It was a policy of containment for the most part, and for a long time, it worked. The first half was dire to watch, the game far from open, with few chances to speak of.

Eddie Nketiah had a clear sight of goal but shot tamely after 37 minutes, although at least forced a corner. From it, a real collector’s item in the form of a Rob Holding goal. Generally, his attempts hit the woodwork or go wide, but this time, he glanced his header across the goal and into the net. And the game changed for the better as West Ham had to change their approach. It paid dividends with an equalizer just before the break. A pass from the right was controlled by Jared Bowen, and his effort deflected off Gabriel to beat Ramsdale. There was a collective slump in the away section, and the hope that half time might see the return of a more dynamic Gunners after the restart.

As it was, Aaron Ramsdale was the subject of a huge call from the soon-to-retire Mike Dean a few minutes after the players returned. And was very close to being red-carded. Beating Holding for pace and chasing the ball, Jared Bowen – it looked to me – tried to avoid getting clattered by jumping over the onrushing keeper’s leg, after he got a touch on the ball, and went down on landing. If he’d have taken the hit, he might have been injured, but Arsenal would certainly have been reduced to 10 men at the same time. The referee carded Bowen for a dive – and in fairness, he didn’t need to go down. It was touch and go though, as Ramsdale was so close to making contact. In an instant, Bowen instinctively chose to avoid getting hurt rather than guarantee his team had a man advantage. He then tried to make capital out of it and was out of luck. It was very, very risky on the keeper’s part though.

Soon after an Arsenal corner was not properly cleared and gave Martinelli the chance to find an unmarked Gabriel at the back post to head the ball home off Fabianski. Both centre backs provided the away side’s goals with headers yesterday as shots were foiled, although they did at least create the corners from which the goals came. It was a day when the importance of spreading goals around the team was demonstrated all too clearly, as well as the opportunity provided by corners if they are taken well – and Saka was the one taking them for both goals.

After that, it was Arsenal’s turn to play more cautiously, as David Moyes put some of his better players on to try and force an equalizer. On the counter attack, Nketiah had two very presentable chances to make it 3-1, but hit the first wide and the second was saved. Fortunately, his side got away with it. Defensively, the Gunners were resilient. Xhaka and Elneny had good games in front of a solid centre back display.

It was more of a pitched battle than the football matches we saw in the previous two games, and Arteta afterwards admitted his team had won ugly, but sometimes, it has to be done. Creatively, his team’s style was stifled by David Moyes’ side, but they found a way to create chances – seven attempts on target compared to West Ham’s three, which kind of reflects the scoreline. It showed they had greater ambition. Additionally, there was some necessary gamesmanship in the last half hour to remove momentum from the game. Granted that isn’t pretty, but their hosts hardly set a positive tone, so there was no feeling they were hard done by. Game management hasn’t always been a strong point of this Arsenal side, but they are starting to develop it, and it will serve them well going forward.

With Spurs unsurprisingly beating a Leicester side earlier in the day (given the latter’s own involvement in a European semi-final), there was no question Arsenal’s top four hopes would have taken a huge blow had they failed to win this game. Given the three defeats at the start of April, things looked very bleak with a trio of matches against fellow top four contenders, two of them away, but credit to Arteta, he rallied his side, and they have won all of them to put themselves right back in the mix. 

Most importantly, they are two points clear of Tottenham, although their goal difference is going to count against them should they require that to determine anything. Plus 13 to Spurs’ Plus 20. If that changes in Arsenal’s favour, it can only be because Antonio Conte’s side are dropping points, so may become irrelevant. Spurs visit Liverpool on Saturday evening, and you have to hope that the Scousers’ impressive run continues. Arsenal face Leeds on Sunday, although the latter’s desperate need for points will make it a more challenging game than it might otherwise have been. 

One thing’s for sure – whatever you think looking at a fixture list, nothing is certain in this league. Teams have to find a way of winning games, and enjoy a dose of fortune with refereeing decisions and injuries. On the injury front, added to that loss of Tierney and Partey, we now await developments with White and Tomiyasu – the latter removed due to his not being able to continue rather than the need for Cedric to bolster the defence (which could be viewed as a contradiction in terms).

Ideally, Arsenal will be able to qualify without needing any kind of result at the Lane. If they can beat Leeds and Everton at home, and Newcastle away, whilst Spurs fail to win at Liverpool, Champions League football is theirs. Yet, Arsenal’s games are tricky for different reasons. Newcastle are a much tougher proposition now, Everton are fighting for their survival. The only certainty is this – Gooners with a tendency to bite their nails will be feasting on keratin between now and 22nd May. And in spite of Chelsea’s recent mixed run, they will surely win three games of their remaining four, and are safe in third. 

To be notified when there is fresh content on my blog (generally the day after matches), follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/KevinWhitcher01