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In what was a must-win encounter for both the clubs, Arsenal hosted West Ham at the Emirates earlier today. Both teams have had a torrid start to their respective campaigns, both operating under the mentorship of new managers for this season.
In what was an extremely free-flowing first half, the Irons drew first blood as record signing Felipe Anderson and Marko Arnautovic teed up on the break with the latter scoring with a fantastic finish into the bottom left corner of Petr Cech's goal. Arsenal's emergency warrior Nacho Monreal then equalized for the home side after a cross parried by Lukasz Fabianski fell kindly for him.
Alexandre Lacazette's attempted cross ricocheted off Issa Diop into his own net thereby giving the Gunners the lead for the first time on the night. Substitute Danny Welbeck then scored in stoppage time from close range to finish off the game and seal Arsenal's first three points in the Premier League under Unai Emery.
Here are the five talking points from the game.
#1 A very open first half
Given that both Arsenal and West Ham were coming into this encounter on the back of two consecutive losses, you'd expect both of them to start off conservatively, which was, in fact, the case. However, this phase only lasted for the first 10 minutes or so, when both the teams were growing into the game. Post then, it was pure end-to-end football.
Both teams had a plethora of chances in the first 45 minutes - 7 and 8 for Arsenal and West Ham respectively - though it has to be said that the visitors looked more threatening on offence.
The likes of Antonio, Anderson and Arnautovic continued to stretch the Gunners' back line, often hitting them with pace on the counter. The Irons were rewarded for their efforts with the West Ham No.7 opening the scoring in the 25th minute. Arsenal drew level through Monreal soon after, and a long-range Aubameyang shot very narrowly missed the target.
The instability of the defences of both the teams, especially Arsenal's, definitely played a part in this game being an extremely exciting watch so far, as Manuel Pellegrini's side finished the first half on top.
#2 Arsenal gave away the ball far too many times
After two rather quiet displays by Mesut Ozil, the German was benched as Aaron Ramsey made it into the starting line up once again. In the process, however, the hosts were deprived of a midfielder who was comfortable and composed in possession, something that could not be said about the rest of the Arsenal players today.
Often a player would give away the ball in the middle of the pitch and the Hammers would attack on the counter. Granit Xhaka is no stranger to playing misplaced passes and he was at it again today.
Even the charismatic French youngster, Matteo Guendouzi seemed to have lost his head and gave the ball away too many times. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who is slowly growing in stature as a creative force at the Emirates, was also dispossessed by an onrushing defender.
Lucas Torreira's introduction in the second half did improve the situation as the Uruguayan held possession well and put in a shift defensively. This again begs the same question off Unai Emery. Why is Lucas Torreira not starting for Arsenal? Perhaps today's game will force Emery to take that decision.
#3 Marko Arnautovic extremely crucial to West Ham's success
So far this season, West Ham have only managed to score two goals in over 270 minutes of Premier League action, both of them coming through their 2017-18 Player of the Year, Marko Arnautovic.
The Austrian has time and again proved why he is such an important player for West Ham, having signed for them last season. Today was no different either as he was a consistent thorn in the Arsenal defence, netting the Hammers' solitary goal from outside of the box with a fantastic finish.
Arnautovic is an able man on the ball, having the capabilities of starting an attack all on his own. He can carry the ball forward, pick out a pass, and even be the perfect target man for other players to mesh up with. West Ham created a lot of chances in both the halves of the game, but Arnautovic's presence in the heart of the attack was what made them potent.
The former Stoke City player had an early finish to the game as we went down and had to be subbed off. This, in some ways, killed West Ham's odds of coming back into the game. His replacement, Javier Hernandez, cut a frustrated figure in the final third of the pitch. Even Andriy Yarmolenko couldn't deliver.
The chances were still there, as Anderson and Antonio continued their exploits down the left flank. There was no one to poach on them though. After enduring three losses on the trot now, Manuel Pellegrini can only hope that there are no serious fitness concerns surrounding Marko Arnautovic following his early withdrawal on the night.
#4 Both Aubameyang and Lacazette need to start
If the pre-season was somewhat of an indicator, many expected both Lacazette and Aubameyang to start the games for Arsenal in competitive fixtures. However, Unai Emery has preferred to stick with the Gabonese with the Frenchman being restricted to appearances off the bench in all the three fixtures in the Premier League so far.
Lacazette however, needs to start for Arsenal. He has managed to lift the tempo of the side in all of the three games where he came on as a substitute in the second half. He has linked up well with his teammates, especially Mkhitaryan and Bellerin, and been a proper No. 9 presence for Arsenal inside the box.
Does this mean that you bench Aubameyang? No, he carries a lot of attacking threat to be dealt that way. Whenever Lacazette has come on, we have seen Aubameyang take to the left flank and stir trouble. His pace allows him to exploit the wide areas if needed while his attacking instincts result in him cutting inside the box to spring a few passes and subsequently goal scoring chances, in the process.
Alex Iwobi has been the primary occupant of the left wing slot for the Gunners and rather effectively so. However, Emery needs to ponder whether he offers more to the team than a pairing of Aubameyang and Lacazette right from the get-go.
#5 Is time a luxury that West Ham can afford?
West Ham have been known for slow starts to their Premier League campaigns as of late. Last season was no different as a poor return in the first few games led to the sacking of Slaven Bilic as the Hammers' boss. This season also, West Ham have gone on to lose three games in a row.
Cutting some slack though, Manuel Pellegrini's side did play Liverpool and Arsenal away in this losing run of games. However, failing to secure points against Eddie Howe's Bournemouth at home after having led the game is a big red flag. Also, nothing of much accord came through the Hammers in their opening two games of the season.
While they did turn up with a much better display against Arsenal, it can again be argued that this was because of the Gunners' being a work-in-progress side themselves.
West Ham are supposedly starting from scratch under their Chilean boss but it's not every season that the London-based club spends close to a hundred million pounds. The owners and the fans alike expect results and those results have not been delivered so far.
The Irons need to step up their game big time if all of this is to change. Unfortunately, there's no respite for Pellegrini's men in the month of September, as far as fixtures are concerned. Firstly, they host Nuno Espirito Santo's Wolves, who just managed to hold defending champions Manchester City to a draw. After that, they play Everton away, and then Chelsea and Manchester United at home.
As of right now, West Ham look highly likely to go the same route of Spurs of the 2013-14 season and Everton of last season where a lot of new incoming players resulted in a loss of team chemistry, and an eventual worse off finish as compared to the previous season. West Ham fans can only hope for the better.
