Arsenal were left licking their wounds when a determined West Ham United side held them to a 3-3 draw at the Boleyn Ground. First half goals from Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez gave the Gunners a 2-0 lead inside 35 minutes but West Ham’s Andy Carroll came up with two late goals before the half-time whistle to make it 2-2 at the break.
In a very fairly poised match, the hosts were given the lead by Carroll early in the second half as he completed his hat-trick but constant pressure from the Gunners meant that Laurent Koscielny popped up with an equaliser to save the blushes for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.
The draw now leaves Arsenal 10 points off leaders Leicester City with six games to go until the end of the Premier League season.
Here are the talking points from the game:
1) Andy Carroll’s hat-trick
Arsenal were in command of the game at 2-0 with just a minute to go for half-time. But Andy Carroll had something else in mind when he saw the opportunity to score a darting header from a Cresswell cross. He gave his teammates, the fans and most importantly, himself, the belief that the game was not over at 2-0 to Arsenal.
He made sure that he hit the net with a precise header, climbing over Monreal. Minutes later, the Hammers threatened again and scored through the same man as Arsenal’s defence looked in shambles.
Arsenal were unable to clear the ball which was collected by Noble outside the box, and he fed the cross to Carroll, who headed the ball at Gabriel and then hit the rebound past Gabriel and Ospina into the net.
This gave confidence to the man who has not been in the starting XI for large parts of the campaign so far. The English striker completed his hat-trick when he rose and struck a fine header onto Gabriel and inside the net after the half-time to make it 3-2 to the Hammers.
His contribution indicates how important it is to have a dynamic team and players with different qualities, and how important it is for a manager to use them against the right side.
2) Alex Iwobi plays like a regular starter
The Nigerian has been in outstanding form ever since getting drafted into the first team by Arsene Wenger. The Frenchman has praised the youngster time and again for his attitude and determination to succeed and be a part of the Arsenal playing XI.
Having gotten chances to show his talent in the FA Cup regularly this season, the 19-year-old had been the main positive to come out of the Gunners’ FA Cup campaign this season. And now, he is enjoying a starting role in the first team.
Wenger has been known to play players in the team on the basis of their performances. Just like Ospina, who has been starting ahead of Petr Cech, Iwobi has been playing ahead of players like Theo Walcott, Olivier Giroud and Joel Campbell.
The Nigerian has now made seven Premier League appearances for the Gunners this season, having scored two goals and had two assists in the game. If he continues to play the way he is playing, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott, Joel Campbell and maybe even Jack Wilshere will find it hard to get a place in the starting XI.
3) Refereeing blunder early in the game
The game was evenly matched for the first 15 minutes and West Ham United had actually scored a great team goal. But they were denied by a poor decision from the linesman on the far side.
The incident occurred when Mark Noble played a cross into the box from the left side of the pitch, which was met by Andy Carroll. The English striker played it for the forward rushing Manuel Lanzini.
The Argentine scored with a fine header and started to celebrate. But he was soon stopped as the linesman raised his flag for offside. The decision was not liked by the home side and its support.
Replays suggested that Hector Bellerin had played all the West Ham players on-side and the linesman had got it wrong. Another such incident took place when Carroll ran in behind the Arsenal defence into the box but Koscielny managed to get between him and the ball.
Ospina came rushing to get the ball but Carroll kicked it away, only for Payet to turn it into the back of the net. The referee adjudged that Carroll had wrapped his arms around Koscielny, so he gave a foul against West Ham. In such cases, the referee should be blowing his whistle at the time of the foul and not after seeing the consequences of the play.
4) Poor response from Arsenal after trailing
As soon as the second half started, there was a buzz in the crowd about the home team’s chances of scoring. When Andy Carroll popped up again to complete his hat-trick, the stadium was filled with joy.
On the other hand, the Arsenal players looked dejected but if you want to be champions of the best league in the world, then you need to have the right attitude. That is something that was lacking in the Arsenal side after it became 3-2.
Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, two of the most expensive and world-class players at the club should have been stepping up to get that equaliser but they did not even get to see much of the ball until the last 10 minutes of the game.
The defence was nervy and the midfield lacked swagger. When champions go behind, they usually come back even stronger, equalise and get the winner. But there was no visible intent from the Arsenal side.
5) 3 defenders at the back does not work
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic had set up his team in a 3-4-3 formation at the start of the game against an Arsenal side who are not short on attacking talent and flair. The move of playing just three defenders against Arsenal is never the right option and it was proved right yet again when the Gunners went 2-0 ahead inside 35 minutes.
The back three of Reid, Ogbonna and Tomkins could not stop Ozil and Sanchez from scoring. What a back three does to a side is that it stretches the defence line at the back and makes it wide.
It also means that the three central defenders are not very suited to the role if they do not usually play with that formation. It becomes difficult to decide which defender will be going for which ball. Manchester United have used such tactics under Louis van Gaal and have failed with it.
When Bilic changed the formation and got Emenike on to replace Tomkins and reshuffled the back-line, the West Ham defence knew which player had to play in which area. The 4-3-3 formation was better suited to stop the Arsenal attackers and in the end the tweak in formation worked for Bilic and his West Ham side.
