Arsenal moved into the top four for the first time this season after a 2-0 win over West Ham at the Emirates this evening.
After a goalless first half, Gabriel Martinelli put the Gunners ahead with a superb strike. Alexandre Lacazette missed a penalty after an incident which saw the Hammers reduced to 10 men, and after a nervous period substitute Emile Smith Rowe made the game safe with a left footed zinger with just a few minutes to go.
After a difficult week, it was the perfect response and an impressive performance and result against one of the league’s form teams this season.
Read the Arsenal 2-0 West Ham match report and see the goals here
Arsenal 2-0 West Ham – Player Ratings
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Sweet
How is Gabi on the penalties?
It was a good penalty, but it was a good save. Laca misses 1 in 9 and now you want someone else to take it?
Not really, think lacka was excellent tonight. It was more of a nod to the future
I never seen Martinelli take a pen, would be an interesting shout in the future
Took one for Brazil at the olympics. Stone cold.
tbh 1 isn’t great sample is it?
tbh 1 isn’t a great sample is it?*
Poor penalty. He telegraphed it. Even I knew where he was going to put it. I think Gabi’s a good bet as penalty taker – cool and confident.
Worse as AMN 😉
Well done, great performance. Martinelli, Saka and ESR looking great.
Let’s hope we can keep it up, especially away from home.
Still baffled by the fact that we are bringing on a wantaway striker in Eddie while we still have Pepe, our most expensive player, and Balogun.
Would have been quite a trick to bring Balogun on today when he wasn’t even on the bench.
Well, a certain wantaway striker took his place, imo.
He must be trying to sell him in January….no other logical reason…
Balogun is going out on loan in January and Pepe will be at AFCON. MA is rightly getting minutes and form into those who are going to be here in January.
Sambi?
You’re rating Pepe by his price tag (instead of performance), & Balogun by his performances for the U23 (instead of 1st team)
Whereas you’re rating Nketiah based on his performances in the 45-or-so minutes he’s played for the first team?
Laca was a real captain today. Fighting with the reff, fighting with the opposition. Playing for the badge all match
I think all the younger players saw that, and know that he is Aubameyang’s closest friend in the club.
100%
A statement performance, he was a warrior out there. Re-sign Laca, try to find a team willing to take Auba? No one would’ve said that even 2 weeks ago but sheesh
No. We really shouldn’t resign Lacazette. That would be making the same mistake again for a third time. He should go in the summer. If we can move on Auba as well and bring in someone else (or 2) I wouldn’t have a problem with that. But Lacazette has not been dependable enough over the years. He’s a decent enough player but has these hot streaks where he looks excellent but then can drop a series of 5/10s.
The max we should give laca is 1-2 years, but we need another striker. We cannot be dishing out another massive contract to a 30+ player. Surely we’ve Learned some lessons?
A one year extension, and absolutely no more than that. I am absolutely torn whether even doing that would be the right thing to do though. . .
no one? actually that’s been a popular opinion for quite a while. think most would agree auba’s wages are to big to keep him around and opinions on laca are generally diverse.
personally always rated laca but wouldn’t give him more than two years and generally think him leaving would be okay, he’s not getting younger. like him a lot though
No one should be saying that today, either.
Funny thing is, Laca has had some of his best performances when he’s out there with the young bloods without Auba. But when he’s been out there with Auba he’s had more flat performances. At least that’s how I seem to recall it.
I think Auba’s poor form and playing style have been part of what is limiting Lacazette. Laca thrives on the buzzing energy, and you can tell he loves mentoring the kids.
It could be something as simple as being out there on the pitch seeing his friend suffering a poor patch (or not being up for it).
Whatever Laca ate before the game, he needs to start eating it before every game. He was the Laca of a few years ago, I’d say when he was our player of the season (18-19).
Great response from the team overall.
8/10 for Arteta today. Picked the right team, managed the game well, made sensible substitutions, celebrated goals like a fan.
I will never be sold on Xhaka after seeing what Sambi can offer. Thought he was awful tonight and six was generous
I didn’t think he wasn’t awful, he was involved in a number of good passages. He dawdled once or twice and was caught on the ball, thankfully to no avail for them – but he didn’t do anything stupid, and overall he was a solid presence, which in my book, made his performance nothing particularly special, so average to ok.
He wasn’t that bad ffs. And calm down on Sambi. Tons of potential but he has had some bad performances of late…for example he was fkn shite against Liverpool which is why he was benched…and rightly so.
Soucek was virtually invisible tonight for West Ham and that was in no small part to Xhaka marking him. Sambi is on 4 yellow’s and being protected. He will get plenty of time when Partey is away at AFCON.
I really like Sambi but he isn’t the most physical guy yet. We needed Xhaka’s presence tonight.
His presence doesn’t stop all the sloppy mistakes he meant that put us under pressure. His ability to recover from those awful mistakes are non existent. He’s been mediocre for years.
Given that Laca missed a pen & Gabriel attempted a couple of suicidal back passes (both had great games in general) yet you choose to focus on lesser mistakes from Xhaka makes me think you may have an agenda.
He was solid, nothing spectacular but definitely not bad tonight. It was a good team performance & he was part of it.
***didn’t think he was awful
I love Lacca and a great performance by him and the boys tonight but… I wish he wouldn’t roll around so much sometimes when he’s been tackled
Masuaku would never want to see Saka again
Not just that. Masuaku receiving the ball was one of the clearest triggers for a press I’ve ever seen. MO went after him like a missile.
Ødegaard a missile? Haha, that must be irony. He’s busy but runs like an old lady with two shopping bags.
His press was good, was also tracking back well and putting pressure on the ball, won it a few times in a stretch where we just kept fighting successfully to win it back in the 1st few seconds.
It’s such a joy to watch Saka play. He routinely has between two and four players swarming him and more often than not either finds a way through or makes a good pass. May he always have such enthusiasm for forward play! I think he’s been linking extremely well with Tomi lately too, nice to have that right flank as solid as the left for the first time in ages.
Implying he ever saw Saka in the first place.
Such an important win in so many ways. What can be said about our exciting young players that hasn’t been said? The future is theirs (and hopefully even the present).
Motm is a tough call between laca and Martinelli, but the youngster just about edges it for me
If Laca had scored the pen I’d have said him. But Martinelli gets it
Laca impressed.
He looks a different player to the one who we saw v Everton.
Can’t figure it………any thoughts people?
I ask because this guy has loads to offer on the evidence of the last two games.
I think Laca is a confidence player. His confidence is certainly increasing. Manager believes in him, our young stars believe in him, and he is starting to believe in himself more. The captains armband suits him quite well.
When Laca runs hot he is fun to watch. When he runs cold it’s a bit unsightly. He was up for it tonight.
I thought he played the best game I have ever seen from him. Even looked like he could outrun defenders.
He wasn’t getting any service at Goodison… had to drop deep to get the ball… the whole pattern was outawhack in that game
We played higher up the pitch and a lot quicker today, meaning we could get more bodies around him. And he was generally sharper as well, was actually able to get away from players with the ball and we haven’t seen that in a while.
Players usually play out of their skin when a new contract is upon them. Seen it too many times
Players at this level will have good games.
It’s about the consistent standard of performance.
I like this team.
I think it was a good penalty to be honest, but it was a good save, it was more or less in the corner, if I am being nitpicky that was the only blip, my number 9 was fantastic today, he so deserved a goal, looked like 2018/2019 Laca, who was excellent. Martinelli Henry-esque finish, had to still do a lot there, it a very important goal and a great ball from Laca too ESR coming in with a very good goal, a very good performance against a good team, so so happy today. Our front 4 were very very… Read more »
So I think we can all agree that Lacazette played brilliantly tonight. Perfect timing after the Auba situation. Nothing wrong with the penalty – great save by Fabianski. Martinelli really showed what he was capable of tonight. That nutmeg was a thing of beauty and, of course, the goal just showed his coolness under pressure. Solidified his place in the starting 11. Funny how even Pablo Fornals didn’t want to see Partey shoot tonight. West Ham saved a few lives in the crowd. Odegaard was solid as usual, and Smith Rowe showing our squad depth with his impact in the… Read more »
Blogs apparently cannot agree. 8 was harsh from him. I don’t think you can really mark him down for what was a good penalty that goes in 95/100 times, and otherwise I’m not sure what really more he could do to get a 9!
Blogs hates Laca…everybody knows that!
🙄
He got 8. Martinelli who actually scored got an 8.5.
I don’t see the problem.
The problem is without lacas assist that goal is non existent.
What about offering Laca a 1 year extension?
I was about to post the same question… Auba will be leaving us soon and it would be good to keep Laca as the experienced one and someone who leads by example.
Laca can barely last 60 minutes most games
Have to disagree there. I like what Alex can bring to the table but there is surely a younger forward out there that can do the same for half the salary.
Minus the crucial mentoring and leading part, of course. That’s not nothing. In fact, it’s quite a lot. We have a very young team and the repeated refrain is ‘lacking a leader’. We have one with Laca. Certainly keeping him around a year, or year-on-year would be beneficial, if he’s down with that. He’s not on Auba wages, and it’s not my money anyway. They wouldn’t have to raise ticket prices to keep him, and the benefits in developing the younger players are huge. He is of great value and a good personality in the dressing room and on the… Read more »
Other clubs do this all the time as well. An aging Suarez and Higuain etc. 1 year extension would be suitable.
Depends on who do we bring as a new forward, and when. If we secure some high profile name in January, we can calmly let Laca go. If we don’t do that, triggering an extension (if such clause exists!) is a safer approach, as we risk coming empty handed in the summer. Or finding another gem for the future will still need his experience for another year.
My guess is he wouldn’t accept it. At his age, he will be looking for a 3 year contract on a decent salary somewhere (maybe in Italy or back in France, who knows), where he has the chance to finish his career. If he carries on another year getting older and potentially injured at Arsenal, it’s less likely he will find that option.
Despite having a great record, I had a feeling Laca would miss this one. Theres a reason why he usually gives the pens he wins to Auba!
Aubamewho?
So I think we can all agree that Lacazette played brilliantly tonight. Perfect timing after the Auba situation. Nothing wrong with the penalty – great save by Fabianski. Martinelli really showed what he was capable of tonight. That nutmeg was a thing of beauty and, of course, the goal just showed his coolness under pressure. Solidified his place in the starting 11. Funny how even Pablo Fornals didn’t want to see Partey shoot tonight. West Ham saved a few lives in the crowd. Odegaard was solid as usual, and Smith Rowe showing our squad depth with his impact in the… Read more »
Is it me, or is there an echo in here?
Hey look, it’s not me.
Yeah right. More fan boy love for the weak Norwegian. Once again ESR showed exactly why he is superior to Odegaard and should be starting every game ahead of him.
Notice you didn’t have much to say when Odegaard scored three in three.
Based blogs +1
But he’s got a point. Not the strongest or fastest player in the squad.
There can only be one strongest and one fastest player in the squad. All the rest are not. That’s how it works.
You’ve got a strange habit of trying to pit our players against each other.
Most ppl would see that as strength in depth, yet you see it as an invitation to stir some non-existent supporter beef. Really odd.
Not at all. My frustration is that we don’t always play the best team and imo starting Odegaard over ESR or even having Odegaard starting alongside ESR is not our strongest team formation. It throws our balance off and the midfield can’t impose themselves in games the way they should.
This whole Aubameyang ordeal could be a hidden gift, Martinelli is playing more games/minutes than he usually does, and deservedly so.
I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it, I like it, Hale End’s on a roll! Saka and Emile Smith Rowe!
Sorry I had to..
LoL be careful what you wish for I suppose. Easy to forget what happened at AFC the last time a big club personality wasn’t playing.
Martinelli should have been closer to the starting XI way before this fiasco reached a breaking point. I just hope he doesn’t get run into the ground.
Great win and what a performance overall! Btw, Is Anthony Taylor the worst refree in the league? I always thought Mike Dean has been ridiculously bad consistently over the years, but Mr Taylor now seems to be taking the mantle forward. Anyway onto the next one💪.
he was fine…what are you expecting?
Competency would be a nice change
Thought he was excellent in the 2017 FA Cup Final
Like really? I think i understand how you meant it, but guys..we are not fcking United, we do not need helpservice from referees. For me, the tendency, one-sided refereeing in that match, utterly horrible football experience for me. Never again pls.
In that FA cup final, not yesterday. Yesterday wasnt so bad, penalty ok, Coufal must not tackle like this in own penalty box, moreover with a yellow.
But the final, guys. Yes, it was fcking Chelsea and they deserve this and so on, but..I do not enjoy the victory then. Ok, maybe my fault, but I dont want to see this again.
I thought the penalty was the right call – it’s a foul all day long, he slides across with studs showing, he brushes over the top of the ball and takes out Laca at the shins. I wouldn’t consider brushing over the top of a ball ‘playing the ball’ and if one of our players committed it I would have no qualms if they got a yellow for it. He let a lot of minor things go and kept things flowing well. The only call I really disagreed with was the one where Soucek did a very flamboyant dive after… Read more »
I don’t get the controversy surrounding the pen. In real time I admittedly didn’t think it was the right call but slowed down I don’t think anyone had anything to complain about.
Moyes didn’t complain & admitted his player was sloppy, everyone on MOTD felt the same. No clue why this is an issue
Yep, you can win the ball with a foul and reckless challenge and it’s still a foul and reckless challenge. Anywhere else on the pitch that should have been a foul tackle too. Aggressively through the player with both legs, and one leg over the top of the ball.
If Xhaka had committed that challenge in the box half the Arsenal base would be screaming about it for months.
How bad does Nketiah not want to be here…
Even more wild that he got on.
I’d like to see Balogun given a bit of game time, Eddie has had his opportunities
Arteta has to trick someone into buying him.
I was thinking hard about why on earth Eddie has been getting minutes after he said he didn’t want to stay at the club. Wonder if there’s an argument for him putting everything into his remaining time so that his prospects for a new club improve. As it stands, suitors might not be of the kind he’s after, but with strong performances using that as a ‘carrot’ that might change, and honestly speaking we all benefit from players trying their best. Just a thought. I too would like to see Flo get some minutes though.
I don’t think he’s capable of a strong performance at this level.
He had an immediate impact with his last late appearance. Came to nothing, but he made stuff happen.
We also just need to churn through a heavy fixture list right now, so why not? Ideally it would be Pepe, but we’re going to need a fly on the wall to figure that one out.
I’m just here to give props to Tomi, he is so solid. He’s always fighting, hustling, makes a mistake but chases after it. He’s not flashy but he is one of the reasons why we’re wining IMO.
He was basically the only outlet from Ramsay all night. Arteta obviously decided that we weren’t going to play the ball out from the keeper. Ramsay just pumped it to Tomiyasu and then we fought for the scraps in a safe area of the pitch. In that sense, Tomiyasu played like a traditional CF instead of Laca.
Like Sir-Chesney and Sagna
It used to be painful to watch Sagna get teakettled or run the risk of a huge clattering when the ball was always being played out to him high and wide. Miss him.
But Tomi is good. Like him.
Saka was just brilliant, especially in the first half. Masuaku simply could not handle him and West Ham had to give their defender help, which opened up the middle of the pitch for quick runs into the box and Saka and Odegaard combinations with those runs.
man, magalhaes deserves way more than a 7.5, it was a 9 for me. he had some very, very good tackles that looked like it was nothing, but that actually killed very serious chances for the opposition to score an otherwise under-control game. i had flashbacks of some of our past defenders getting done in the exact same situations in which gabriel thrived today.
Gabriel was brilliant. One of several 9 out of 10s tonight, alongside Laca, Saka and Martinelli.
Think maybe he was marked down for some of his more eccentric back passes
So who is MA going to drop into XHaka’s midfield spot? Best game in a long time, but he is so limited. Oh well we still need Kroneke to sell, fire Edu and fire Arteta. 🙂
Long season with lots of ups and downs to go. I hope we go undefeated the rest of the month and then on Jan 1 we can see how much we have improved over the past six months. Cant wait for saturday now.
Agree with most of the ratings.
Laca and Martinelli were truly awesome.
Good show all round, a proper team performance. Being very picky, I thought Odegaard actually was a bit weak overall, he was hustled off the ball a couple of times, did some half assed tracking back on occasions, and gave away a shocking pass that we could’ve been punished for. Xhaka taking ages on the ball and getting robbed was a bit embarrassing – poor chap looks rusty as expected.
Absolutely loved the goals. ESR slotting that through the Hammer’s legs. Sweet. Martinelli’s perfect finish….a thing of beauty.
Xhaka doesn’t look rusty, he’s just far too slow and too slow on the ball in dangerous areas for the PL, and has always been. Genuinely not trying to take a shot at him after such an excellent team performance, because it didn’t matter tonight, but his limitations were all on display once more. I think he can still help the team plenty between now and his departure, but I can’t for the life of me figure out how/why he’s come back early from a long injury layoff and played every available minute. Anyway, prefer to stay positive – the… Read more »
Minor correction:
“I think he can still help the team plenty
between now andwith his departure”MO is always weak. You can knock him down with a feather…
10/10 – The fans tonight were excellent.
Also 10/10 for Arteta yelling at Martinelli to get back in to the field while the poor kid was laying on the ground.
Enjoyable to watch but felt West Ham were very poor… they looked quite leggy from the off and maybe are paying for their Europa League participation… at least we didn’t try to sit on the lead… now to take some of this attacking intent on the road… would like to see ESR start
Good ratings, I would like to give a bit more praise for Tomiyasu though beyond defensive duties – he’s doing really good stuff going forward too
There is obviously a prepared routine where Saka plays the ball back to Tomiyasu and he crosses long to three or four at the back post. That is how Odergaard scored in the last game. I have yet to see the guy hit a bad cross – just one.
He was my MOTM (and there also great performances by Martinelli, Saka, Laca, Gabriel and Tierney
Martinelli’s nutmeg….. Wheeew
Finally into the top four although with others below us having games in hand I wonder how long it’ll last. Still, a big win against a very tricky West Ham side. Well done and lets build on this. Interesting how much game time Eddie is getting recently. Seems Arteta really wants him to sign that deal.
Nah I don’t think that’s the real reason. The more appearances Nketiah makes, the higher the tribunal fee.
Eddie is Championship level at best. We need a much better back up striker than that
Moyes must have been expecting Arsenal would play out from the keeper. Instead, Ramsay just kept pumping it towards the leaping Tomiyasu (ignoring Laca) and Arsenal pushed up against the touch-line to win the loose ball. Brilliant strategy. I think that strategy is one reason why Thomas Partey was much better today. Didn’t have the pressure of playing out from the back. He was way above a 6.5. Really looked like the guy we thought we were buying. Auba really is superflous. You don’t need another speedster when you’ve got Saka, Martinelli, Smith Rowe, etc etc. You need a hold-up… Read more »
The Sagna strategy
Really good win and performance today. West Ham are one of those teams designed to give us hell but we dominated from the start. Partey was much improved, Xhaxa was decent. This is the kind of game Laca needs to put in more often, Giroud esque with a lot more mobility.
Yes, good win and performance but West ham haven’t won at our place since 2015
Odegaard with the bang average performance, played that suicidal square pass that almost cost a goal, still gets a 7 and Xhaka 6. Love for Xhaka is timeless
Fuck….off
Why Tim, did I step on your toes or something?
you can make mistakes and still have a really good game.
For what its worth, other then Xhaka getting caught a couple of times with the ball I thought he had a good game too.
I thought he was amazing in the first half. He really is evolving into a key player. That through ball to Saka!
Mate, unless you’re gonna criticise Gabriel for those ridiculous back passes, Laca for missing a pen or even Martinelli for picking up a completely avoidable yellow (all of which was totally inconsequential like Ødegaard’s square ball), then nobody thinks you’re on here for anything more than an unhealthy obsession with Ødegaard & Xhaka.
Congrats to the boys, a great win! Congrats everyone, well deserved
Good performance overall. Partey was ok. He needs to sit in DM and get a more advanced creative CM partner. That guy’s not xhaka… Who gave away the ball in dangerous areas (remember that hesitation on our left flank and the ball was stolen off him?). And Who wore the armband after laca came off?
And who cares who wore the armband when Laca came off?
Good performance and great result against a really good side. Even though we didnt get to see too much of it, it was interesting to see Nuno and Tierney together up and down the left. Made more sense than the Everton sub.. Obv. there isnt a referees plot against Arsenal, but I still do not understand how Antonios challenge/lunge towards Ramsdale basically went by unnoticed, considering the Xhaka v. City incident. And the other incidents in other games as well. So inconcsistent… (Even though I agree more with yesterdays decision than Xhahas..) Thought Laca was superb, bar the penalty. Remember… Read more »
Beautiful image of our young lads that 🥰
I’m happy we won convincingly last night. However, we need to work on protecting our leads in games, and also our numerical advantage counts in games such as last night. One thing Arsenal lacks right now is consistency during matches and long period of matches: that’s the hallmark of the winning team.
Great work on the site and I enjoy the ratings too!!
But I’d skip the ,5 steps! 🙂
Although Arsenal were worthy winners, it was never a yellow card for Coufal 1st half yet Tierney’s panto death throes and some ‘he’s behind you’ heckling from the gallery inveigled ‘pussy in boots’ (Anthony Taylor) into brandishing a card. Some folks welcome this type of shithousery but they’re usually merely ‘customers’ of other teams full of c*nts coached to cheat like Man Ure, Chelski, Spuds, LiVARpool et al. Arsenal should be better than that and at the very least try to cling to a semblance of values we can all get behind. Not even a foul never mind a penalty… Read more »