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Arsenal once again underlined their Premier League title credentials by coming from behind to beat West Ham 3-1 at the Emirates.
The Gunners were the better side for much of the contest, but they were made to do it the hard way after a toothless first-half showing.
Despite dominating the ball in the opening 45 mins, Arsenal found themselves behind when Jarrod Bowen was felled in the penalty area on a breakaway. Said Benrahma converted from the spot to give West Ham an unlikely half-time lead.
The Gunners came out fighting after the break, though, and showed the kind of ruthlessness that has taken them to the top of the Premier League table.
Bukayo Saka, who had a goal ruled out for offside earlier, hauled Arsenal level just eight minutes after the restart with a crisp close-range finish.
Almost immediately Gabriel Martinelli put them in front after good work from Granit Xhaka.
From there, it was a completely different game with Arsenal looking very much in the mood. Eddie Nketiah, who came in for the injured Gabriel Jesus, added a third to put the game to bed with twenty minutes remaining.
The win puts Arsenal seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, and eight ahead of Man City. However, City do have two games in hand.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale – 6/10 – Not often tested but did what needed to be done.
RB: Ben White – 8/10 – Very classy performance.
CB: William Saliba – 7/10 – Looked very assured, as we’ve now come to expect.
CB: Gabriel – 6/10 – Gave away the penalty but didn’t matter in the end.
LB: Kieran Tierney – 6/10 – Did okay but not one of the better performers.
CM: Martin Odegaard – 9/10 – Absolutely brilliant. Slowly becoming the player Real Madrid thought they had.
CM: Thomas Partey – 8/10 – Commanding midfield presence.
CM: Granit Xhaka – 8/10 – Quietly authoritative.
RF: Bukayo Saka – 8/10 – A constant threat and unlucky to not have not scored more goals.
CF: Eddie Nketiah – 7/10 – A lot of pressure on him, but did fine and bagged himself a goal.
LF: Gabriel Martinelli – 8/10 – Very exciting and dynamic performance.
Substitutes
Oleksandr Zinchenko (73’ for Tierney) – N/A
Fabio Vieira (88’ for Martinelli) – N/A
Mohamed Elneny (90’ for Partey) – N/A
Manager: Mikel Arteta – 7/10 – Got a serious reaction out of his players after frustrating first half.
GK: Lukasz Fabiankski – 6/10 – Peppered all night and did what he could.
RB: Vladimir Coufal – 5/10 – Struggled to make any kind of an impact on the game.
CB: Craig Dawson – 5/10 – Along with the rest of the West Ham defence, a little overrun at times.
CB: Thilo Kehrer – 5/10 – Probably one to forget.
CM: Declan Rice – 6/10 – Didn’t influence the match as much as we know he can.
CM: Tomas Soucek – 5/10 – Game passed him by for the most part.
RF – Jarrod Bowen – 6/10 – DId very well to win the penalty, but little else.
AM – Lucas Paqueta – 6/10 – Not his most enjoyable evening.
LF: Said Benrahma – 7/10 – Probably the pick of the West Ham players. Tried to involve himself as much as possible.
CF: Michail Antonio – 6/10 – Dominated but often isolated.
Substitutes
Pablo Fornals (78’ for Soucek) – N/A
Divin Mubama (87’ for Antonio) – N/A
Manager: David Moyes – 4/10 – Didn’t set his team up all that well and never looked able to influence the game.
