by
Wasting one early two-goal lead is careless but there is no excuse for doing it twice in eight days. The title pressure has finally told on Arsenal.
For those of a certain vintage, an irresistible title contender opening a half by scoring a couple of times and sensing an opportunity to render a daunting goal difference gap obsolete, only to then allow that casual, complacent confidence to manifest itself as a comeback for their London-based hosts playing in shades of red and blue, will be a little too close to the bone. This race to the Premier League trophy has been compelling enough not to have to rely on rehashing old storylines. And it just isn’t the same without Dwight Gayle.
But this was quite the reimagining of Crystanbul. Some themes from May 2014 remain relevant almost a decade later – debates over the employment credentials of David Moyes, West Ham fighting against Premier League relegation, Frank Lampard not being a particularly good manager – but a challenger capitulating under the pressure of maintaining championship pace alongside Manchester City is the most crushingly inevitable of all repeat plots.
That is what Guardiola’s champions do: they make every dropped point feel like a disaster. Arsenal have followed a run of seven consecutive wins with back-to-back draws and that has been enough for them to cede theoretical control of the crown. When the margin for error is so punishingly fine, these ordinarily disappointing but standard setbacks seem cataclysmic.
Worse still is just how avoidable those four dropped points in eight days have been. One draw after leading 2-0 early on is forgivable as long as lessons are learned; at West Ham, Arsenal tripped up on the same shoelaces they tied so loosely against Liverpool.
“The crowd got going. The goal gave them some hope. At 2-0 we had the game in our hands,” said Mikel Arteta following the match at Anfield. “That was our chance to kill the game. Then we made a mistake. We had to show our resilience and our luck at times.”
The Spaniard might as well save his breath and just file those quotes again. Gabriel Martinelli and Martin Odegaard put Arsenal 2-0 up at the London Stadium after 10 minutes. The visitors looked imperious; West Ham could not cope. Then carelessness crept in. Thomas Partey tried a curious flick on the edge of his own area which Declan Rice intercepted, and Lucas Paqueta went tumbling over Gabriel’s half-tackle. It was a faintly dubious penalty which nevertheless shattered Arsenal’s concentration and resolve.
While Gabriel Jesus was once doing roulettes at left-back after temporarily swapping positions with makeshift striker Kieran Tierney, the entire Gunners backline was being anxiously occupied by Michail Antonio alone. Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma, who converted that spot-kick, had the spirit and energy to run at defenders when they previous seemed cowed. West Ham grew in stature as Arsenal shrunk.
The Gunners invited pressure and the Hammers RSVP’d with instant glee. Aaron Ramsdale saved from Antonio. Half-time briefly rescued Arsenal but the mood was unchanged for the restart.
Only when Arsenal had the favour returned and Antonio was adjudged to have handballed a shot in the area was the flow stemmed. Yet Bukayo Saka missing the target entirely invigorated West Ham further and Bowen’s delightful volley little over two minutes later completed the turnaround.
Worrying as squandering another lead was, Manchester City were similarly nonchalant after leading early against Leicester, but they managed to weather that storm. Arsenal were caught up in it and their lack of response in attack was most concerning. They created almost nothing of real note after Benrahma’s goal, Saka wasting a late three-on-two and Rob Holding nodding one free-kick aimlessly wide. West Ham pushed harder for the winner, with Antonio hitting the crossbar.
Arteta chucked Reiss Nelson, Jorginho and Eddie Nketiah on among his five substitutes in the hope of channelling some of the essence from earlier in the season, all having scored in dramatic wins this campaign, but to no avail.
Suddenly, any room for error they had in their upcoming trip to the Etihad has been vacated. Manchester City are four points behind with a game in hand and home advantage for a meeting both sides will have eagerly anticipated just over a week ago. It is the last thing Arsenal need now.
