Sunday 21st March
West Ham United 3 Arsenal 3
From the BBC Sport website:
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said his side's performance will "give me nightmares" after the Gunners came from 3-0 down to draw with West Ham in the Premier League.
The Hammers raced into a three-goal lead at London Stadium through Jesse Lingard, Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek, who touched in a Michail Antonio header.
But forward Alexandre Lacazette headed a late equaliser after own goals from Soucek and Craig Dawson set up an unlikely comeback.
"This game is going to give me a few nightmares because it is really difficult to stop some of the things we have been doing to hurt ourselves." Arteta told BBC Sport.
The result leaves the Hammers fifth, two points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, while Arsenal move above Aston Villa into ninth.
'We cannot have two faces'
Arteta was full of praise for his side's second-half performance, declaring it "the best [Arsenal have] played all season".
At 3-0 down, Arsenal looked almost certain to lose further ground in the race for European places.
Lacazette gave the Gunners hope when found the net with a volley which took a deflection off Soucek for Arsenal's opener just before the break.
And Dawson turned in Calum Chambers' cross in the 61st minute to further cut the deficit, before the France striker rose highest to level the game late on after good work from Nicolas Pepe.
"That is the level we can show," Arteta added. "We could have scored six or seven goals and won the game, but we cannot have two faces.
"We stuck to the plan we had because we were getting further away from it. We had the belief we could do something."
A defeat would have opened up a 10-point gap between the two sides and arguably ended Arsenal's hopes of qualifying for a European competition through a top-six finish.
And while questions will be asked about their poor first-half performance, Arteta will take heart from his side's superb reaction against a disciplined West Ham.
'Still a good point'
When they led 3-0, David Moyes' West Ham looked certain to finish the day level on points with Chelsea.
"It's still a good point," Moyes told BBC Sport. "It would have been nice to take another two points but we haven't lost too much ground today."
Manchester United loanee Lingard opened the scoring with a stunning volley and just 98 seconds later set up Bowen with a quick free-kick, as the winger's strike went through Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno.
Soucek seemed to have given West Ham total control but even as Arsenal's comeback picked up steam, the hosts created regular openings.
Antonio diverted Said Benrahma's cross on to the base of the post and Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney blocked a goal-bound effort from Bowen with the score at 3-2.
"We were playing a really good team," added Moyes. "Sometimes people forget what we're up against. We had chances to move out of sight but we weren't able to take them."
West Ham have not finished above Arsenal in the league since 1985-86, but remain seven points ahead of the Gunners.
A European place in any form would be a significant achievement for a club that finished only five points clear of the relegation zone last season. Despite the disappointment of dropping two points on Sunday, a top-four finish remains a possibility with nine games to go.
Another own goal double benefits Arsenal - the stats
- West Ham failed to win after being three goals ahead in a Premier League game for the first time since September 1998 (4-3 defeat against Wimbledon).
- This was the third time in the Premier League this season a team has led by three goals and failed to win (also West Brom 3-3 Chelsea and Spurs 3-3 West Ham) - the most instances in a single Premier League campaign since 2010-11 (also three).
- West Ham have only won one of their past 11 games against Arsenal in the league (D3 L7), failing to win any of their four meetings in the past two campaigns (D1 L3).
- This match against Arsenal (32 minutes) was the earliest from the start of a Premier League match that West Ham have scored three goals since May 2007 against Bolton (29 minutes).
- Jesse Lingard scored his fifth goal against Arsenal in all competitions - the most he has netted against any opponent in his professional career.
- West Ham are the first team to score two own goals in a single Premier League game since Swansea in January 2017, which was also against Arsenal.
What's next?
West Ham travel to Wolves on Monday, 5 April (20:15 BST) after the international break in the Premier League, while Arsenal host Liverpool on Sunday, 4 April (16:30 BST).
No comments:
Post a Comment