Result: West Ham United 1-3 Arsenal
Competition: Premier League
Date: 9 December 2019
Venue: London Stadium
Starting XI: Leno, Bellerin, Chambers, Sokratis, Tierney, Torreira, Xhaka, Pepe, Ozil, Martinelli, Aubameyang
Subs: Martinez, Luiz, Maitland-Niles, Guendouzi, Nelson, Saka, Lacazette
Freddie Ljungberg’s Arsenal recorded a first Premier League win in 64 days as they came from behind to beat West Ham United 3-1 at the London Stadium.
Gabriel Martinelli, Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the goals in a barely believable ten minute second half blitz that killed off an equally poor side who’d taken the lead through Angelo Ogbonna’s deflected header on 38 minutes.
The result, the first time we’ve come from behind to win a league game in eight years, will settle nerves at the Emirates after a torrid couple of months. The three points see us climb up the table to 9th leaving us two points shy of 5th place Manchester United.
First half
Wary of fatigue and desperate to inject some new energy, Freddie Ljungberg made five changes from the team that started the defeat to Brighton on Thursday. Calum Chambers was asked to partner Sokratis, Tierney replaced Kolasinac and Ainsley Maitland-Niles came in at right-back. Hector Bellerin, just back from a hamstring problem, was supposed to start instead but he picked up an injury in the warm-up. In attack, Martinelli and Pepe were charged with flanking Aubameyang meaning Lacazette, who so often struggles for goals on the road, dropped to the bench. Bold from the Swede.
To say we made a tentative start was an understatement. West Ham seemed entirely content on letting us have the ball and with it, we seemed to have little intention of going forward. Instead, the ball repeatedly went back and forth across the back four. Naturally, as soon as we made a loose pass through the middle, we got turned on the counter and Antonio fired over Leno’s bar.
To be fair, that aside, West Ham were laughably passive. If it was a game of cat and mouse, both the cat and the mouse looked stoned. Pepe showed neat flashes of his close control and Ozil drifted into spaces threatening to pick passes but the movement in front was limited and ‘moves’ fizzled out quickly. By the 25th minute, neither side had managed a shot on target.
Kieran Tierney’s evening came to a premature evening before the half-hour mark. His shoulder seemed to pop as we defended a set piece and he was helped from the pitch by the medical team using his shirt as a makeshift sling. Earlier in the day, it had been reported that the Scot had been playing with a shoulder problem. Given the games are coming thick and fast, he’ll likely miss much of the Christmas schedule. Sead Kolasinac, called up to the bench having started the evening out of the squad, came on in his place.
To make matters worse, a crunching tackle by Cresswell on Pepe left the Ivorian in a crumpled heap and clutching his knee. After a couple of minutes of treatment, he returned to the fray to the sound of home fan boos.
In between, both sides had chances. Ozil should have broken the deadlock but couldn’t keep a header down after neat play by Aubameyang. At the other end, Leno blocked a powerful drive on the diagonal by Antonio.
Seven minutes before the break, the Hammers did put the ball in the back of the net. After twice failing to clear a corner, Ogbonna’s header in a crowded box took a huge deflection off Maitland-Niles leaving Leno flat-footed. Not even a VAR review for handball could rescue us. The goal was given. (1-0)
In stoppage time, Aubameyang, full of frustration, attempted to take matters into his own hands. He danced past a couple of players and unleashed from 30-yards. The ball flew miles over. Row X stuff in most stadiums, row A at the London Stadium.
Second half
On Thursday against Brighton, we did well after the break before petering out. Here we did the opposite. Sokratis set the tone for a dispiriting opening 15 minutes, cocking up a drag back deep in his own half before hacking the ball out of play. The home side sensed blood as we continued to make life difficult for ourselves.
Xhaka produced a classic Xhaka moment, wafting a pass across midfield to Snodgrass, who darted goalwards and got off a shot that deflected up and over Leno and just wide. It was a huge let-off for the Swiss midfielder. Soon after, Pepe surrendered possession and the Hammers worked a chance for Rice who stung Leno’s palms.
Honestly, we were getting worse, not better. So it was hugely surprising that we put together a move that led to an equaliser. Torreira worked the ball out to Kolasinac on the left flank, the Bosnian cut the ball back to Martinelli who slid home from 12-yards out. A goal on his first Premier League start for the Brazilian. (1-1)
Suddenly, West Ham looked shaky. Suddenly, we were pressing higher, passing quicker, pushing forward. Ozil to Aubameyang to Pepe. Inside he cut; onto his left foot. Goal. A goal from the moment it left his foot. Brilliant. He was mobbed by yellow shirts in front of the travelling fans. (2-1)
Would we sit back and defend or go for more. We went for more. Aubameyang, given the ball by Ozil, backheeled to Pepe, darted into the box and then volleyed home when the Ivorian’s clipped pass found him in the box. An acrobatic finish. A captain’s finish. A goal of huge importance. (3-1)
A block by Balbuena denied Torreira a fourth and Pepe went down looking for a penalty but Mike Dean waved away his claim. Xhaka took a ball in the face that left him dazed and confused. Was he concussed? He looked it. If nothing else, his time with the medics took the sting out of the game. The midfielder initially continued before being replaced by Guendouzi with five minutes remaining. Not long after, Pepe went off to a standing ovation from the travelling fans who added a comedic soundtrack to seven minutes of stoppage time with a rendition of ‘we are staying up’.
Had we lost tonight, we might have been one point off the relegation zone ahead of Sunday’s clash with Manchester City. It’s too premature to say we’ve turned a page, but this was important. For the fans, for Freddie and for the players. We go again on Thursday in Belgium against Standard Liege.
Did you faint after an away win Blogs? 🙂
This made me laugh much more than it should have.
Oh the sweet taste of victory + away, derby, come back victory – awesome.
All the strategic and tactical adjustments – change of seat on sofa and new lucky underwear!
Jokes aside, 1st prem goals for Martinelli and Pepe, the love and appreciation between the whole squad and Freddie. Marcelino who?
That’s 2nd prem league goal for Pepe I think but 1st from open play.
Martinelli’s first start from the kick off, and he scored his first PL goal. Awesome!
Way to go kid!
Andrew Allen must have had to completely re-write this post after around the 75-minute mark. I wonder what the original write-up was going to say. 🙂
Martinelli altitude is so right, imagine scoring your first premier league goal in your first start at 18 yrs old, mind you being an equalizer away from home, he didn’t even celebrate instead he took the ball right to the kick-off because he thought we can win this thing and I payed off 3 minutes later boom the second goal. A legend in making and he is officially my new favorite arsenal Player. He had a good game.
He was everywhere today. Kept it up the whole 90 as well. F*cking impressive.
Reminded me of a young Freddie, none better to learn from then.
Yes it’s amazing what a little running around can do in football. Perhaps he can inspire some of the more elderly he works with
Seems he’s the most likely out of the group to be the Alexis replacement for a daredevil player, no?
it’s unbelievable how good this boy is. Got it all, technique, attitude, heading ability, speed, work ethic. Sky’s the limit for him. Give him a 10 year contract with a 500 mio release clause. Can’t afford to lose him!
He’s certainly flying high at the moment…!
Haven’t won in such a long time before this game, it actually felt weird and confusing to be able to feel happiness after an Arsenal match again.
Could complain about the horrible first half and injuries, but I won’t because for the last 30 minutes we got to see football that felt like some light at the end of this miserable tunnel.
Ok then I’ll complain for you; we were garbage for 60 minutes, but luckily West Ham were garbage for 90!
First half, no thank you. Second half, yes please.
Freddie must have given them the fergie hairdryer treatment. It worked. More please.
More likely threatened to dye everyone’s hair pink if they didn’t produce the goods.
Don’t knock it. I dyed my Horton fin hair do red (pink? How very dare you) in 2002 to match Freddie’s. I’m convinced it helped us win the league.
What is this strange feeling???
I love Martinelli! Players seem to love Freddie.
Martinelli needs a nick name and soon!
But why am I hearing pundits talking about Ozil after the match like he was the difference?
Ozil’s vision and pass for the 3rd goal was awesome. He cuts our four opposition players with that ball to Auba.
Maybe Özil wasn’t _the_ difference, but he was involved in almost all our best moves, regularly chased back, and added much stability to an attack that went missing during the first 60 minutes. Once he had someone ahead of him to pass to, he kept us moving forward with typically intelligent passes. I thought it was his best game in quite a while, well worth 7/10.
Ozil’s been good for while now, and once this team finds its attacking rhythm again, we will see some great performances from him again. Fortunately Freddie values Ozil’s game, and that’s good for Arsenal.
Ozil is very good at applying the decisive touch to an attacking move.. you can be the judge of how important is that
First half was rough but I’ll take three points away any day of the week at this point!
Pepe and Martinelly starts: Pepe and Martinelli scored
Win after 10 games
3 points.
Pepe Scored plus assist
Martinelli scored
Only problem is injury of Bellerin and Tierney. Get well soon lads
COYG
I’m just gonna say “what a fucking relief!”. Screamed so hard when Auba scored.
Let’s get the win on Thursday and see how Sunday goes against Oil FC. COYG
In October I was constipated for four days. I sat on the can for 45 minutes straining to get it out. Dripping in sweat, rocking back and forth. Several times I thought about giving up. Tonight’s win is the sporting equivalent of the feeling I had when I finally got that shit out.
For me, the best description yet of how Arsenal has played lately!
So to find our way again, we needed our MAP.
I’ll get me coat. Yes, the asbestos one I think…
Martinelli in the immortal words of Nina Wallace:
I said GOD DAMN! God damn! Goood damn!
This fucking kid!
*Mia Wallace
Lovely to see Pepe’s smile. Hadn’t see that before. Hopefully this is the end of the negative spiral
The most wholesome AF smile.
As soon as we scored one, all of the sudden we got our passing and movement back. Crazy how one moment can completely change everything. Suddenly every player looks confident and lively
What a strange game! 1st half every defender and midfielder for Arsenal had their head turned looking back or sideways before receiving the ball and we had lots of negative passing. 2nd half all the team were looking forward before the ball came to them and were positive with passes. Great comeback for the team and fans. Even my beer tastes better tonight. COYG!
Arsenal has been a pure confidence driven team for so long. The capability is there, always has been. Those were 3 good goals. Hope Kola gets the recognition he deserves for his part in the first goal which was the crucial one. If the team can keep their heads up (and that’s a massive “if”) I honestly believe they can still challenge, as our attack is potentially damaging to any team when it’s firing properly, and the guys have some belief. Defensively we will always be vulnerable until we strengthen the squad, especially if we insist on giving match time… Read more »
Let’s raise our goblets of spunk to the victorious ARSENAL! Finally. Oops, spilt some..
The last time we won a match, Santa was clean shaven, so that’s a fantastic result in what could be a difficult December looking at the fixtures.
A win!! It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!???
Martinelli’s future is through the centre! That kid is exceptional! His attitude is flawless too. Torreira was one of our better players today. Pepe and Auba were good too. Get in lads.
I can imagine what 2002 Wenger would have done for this kid. Henry started the same on the wing and moved to striker. Martinelli wants to emulate Ronaldo but he needs to work on his 1v1’s for that. His striking and positioning though, oh boy is that a joy to watch. If he develops into a striker then he is a great swiss army knife of an attacking player. He could compliment a 442, 352 or 451. Nketiah comes good and the future is bright in attack.
I wonder what (hammers fan and Guendouzi hater) Mia Khalifa thinks about that result. I’m sure she’ll, um, suck it up.
Good job!! But it’s more of the players sheer determination than the coach’s plan/tactics. I still suggest we hire the services of a top notch coach to manage /steer the team.
Nah mate. Come you fReds! 🙂
Surely this equates to a DVD release. Or at least a commemorative t-shirt.
Happy for the players, happy for Martinelli for breaking his PL seal, and happy for Pepe as well for that beautiful goal.
Now, Pepe – please quit giving the damned ball away! You took me from frustration to elation and back again.
He was taking chances and making things happen. Every team needs a player like that. It’s how you win games.
Yep. Alexia did that too
Awful first-half performance; great second half.
Pepe MOTM. Give the kid a chance and he’ll become an Arsenal legend.
Thank goodness for 3 points!
A somewhat less negative Fatgooner. The world truelly has gone mad!
I for one welcome this new approach.
Fatgooner’s attitude over the last couple of months was almost exactly the same as 99% of us here. There really was bugger all to be positive about.
IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME!
GOD DAMN. I SAID GOD DAMN MOTHERFUCKER
What I loved most was on Live Blog at 70 mins after third goal it was reported that you could “… hear the Arsenal players scream”! It appeared to demonstrate both relief and passion. Freddie got the formation right. With our incredibly weak centre backs and to incorporate Ozil ( involved in all goals) one needs to play a holding defensive midfielder ( Torreira) and another defensive minded central midfielder (e.g. Xhaka). One also needs two wide forwards with pace with only one central striker ( Auba or Laca – you can’t play both and neither are wide players). Yes… Read more »
Don’t forget Saliba…
You mean those dirty Hammers hacked him too, even though he wasn’t in the squad. I hate them even more now.
Yeah I was going to say we only need 1. Holding and Chambers can partner well with Saliba. We need a new RB for back up. Take nothing away from AMN today though, if he owns it then he could be class there.
What a relief! Glad I could finally see Ozil after the third goal (well done Casper). Martinelli and Pepe is just a nice sight. Chambers is solid. Torreira keep things ticking. I like Ljungberg. COYG
Actually Ozil didn’t stop running all match and was getting frustrated in the first half by the pedestrian way we were playing. He had a hand in our last 2 goals but I guarantee he will still be criticised as you have done
Don’t know for sure, but it looked like he was following Freddie’s orders in the first half. He was very pedestrian and I was losing patience with him and the team. Second half, he made some decent plays. Knows when to go for the throat and when to slow it down.
I think pedestrian is overstating it a bit. I thought he was putting a shift in during the 1st half, and the opposition were making sure to keep him close. He didn’t have much of an outlet in any direction but backwards when he had the ball. Typical 2019 Arsenal in the 1st half.
You can see there is still a lot of work to do on positioning. It looked better with players playing in correct positions though. Martinelli has to start against city, his defensive effort is just superb and example for others. He is infectious, I like him more than Alexis 🙂 Chambers looked alright, better than Luiz. Whole offensive balance looked better and I think with confidence it can improve further. AMN had a good game and Xhaka – Torreira duo looks better. Let´s see where we go from here but there was clearly a huge relief in players, even few… Read more »
the positioning, spot on. i was stupefied how far apart players were with Emery at the helm. now it seems the spaces are even more pronounced. love Freddy, but i wish i saw our team organized, with each player having multiple, low risk passing options at all times. west ham were too bad to press, but any half decent team will and it’s worrying. miss the interplay from olden days, people coming to the ball constantly. plus it looked like our players’ positional movement consisted mostly of jogs. this is the PL for fuck’s sake, they need to be moving… Read more »
A game of three parts, first 60 was Arsenal horror show part XIII led by lead actor Granit Xhaka. Then 10 minutes of brilliance and at the end 20 minutes of « we get you sacked» performance from the home team. A away win feels of course good, that’s by the way the performance of the top teams every week. Playing like this next week and we’ll get slaughtered by City. I don’t envy Freddie his task of building on the positive and at the same time ironing out the mistakes from this evening. I would hammer in two messages,… Read more »
Xhaka really wasn’t that bad overall tonight, certainly no worse than anyone else for the first 60 minutes. After we scored the equaliser there was a swagger about the team, Xhaka even playing the ball a little bit fancy with a little flick to get away from someone in a west ham shirt. Once we went ahead there was a genuine feeling of “we’re winning this” and it was great to see that for all the talking up of the senior players showing their experience that this game was won through a blend of youth and experience in Ozil, Auba,… Read more »
So happy that it was Martinelli that dug us out of the grave. Xhaxa and Torreira had much better second halfs and it had a massive domino effect on the whole team.
I also think the improvement in the second half by our mid duo was instrumental in building the momentum that ultimately got us the win.
Fair play to the team tonight, the first 60 minutes was a bit meh, but they stuck at it and it paid off!! Really happy for Pepe to get off the mark especially after that mong tried to break his legs twice Also hearing Rafa speak on Sky during half time and after the game really makes me wish we would splash out and get him in if rumours are true that Freddy can only manage us till Feb as he don’t have his Pro License. He had some really great analysis on our issues and think he could really… Read more »
Good win but let’s not get over optimistic please.
7-0 against Liege will suffice.
Twice in 26 years, could start a trend 😉
Auba has to start up front and pepe has to start every game when fit. Where does that leave Lacazette? Honestly i dont think hes that much better than Martinelli.
Martinelli to start for me, every time. This kid is something special. Lava is the perfect attacking sub to provide an alternative. I hope Freddie uses tonight as a blue print from now on. It took an age to click – but my God, when it did…..
I think Laca would be much better fit to start against City than Auba. So what is left for Laca is rotation.
For me, the line up pretty much picks itself – will it ruffle some players, yes, but then its down to them to work harder and make it difficult for the coach to leave them out. I’d go for: …………………..Leno………………………. …..Bellerin Chambers Holding Tierney ……………..Torreira Xhaka …………………….Ozil Pepe………………………………..Martinelli ………………..Aubameyang Lacazette, might feel a little aggrieved as might Luiz or Sokratis. But they have all been poor of late and aren’t offering enough to the team. Bench them, make them work harder and let them make it difficult for Freddie to leave them out. Martinelli for me has earnt his place… Read more »
Sokratis had a flawless match Monday. He is much better than Holding.
Freddie does what Unai Emery refused point blank to do – Aubameyang up front, Ozil behind him with Pepe and Martinelli flanking. Three goals in nine minutes; three points. Play your best players in their natural positions and you’ll get results. Sorry Unai. You were the architect of your own downfall.
I’m having trouble processing this win. It’s been awhile.
In case no one else has pointed it out, it’s not “the first time we’ve come from behind to win a league game in eight years”, it’s the first time we’ve come from behind AT HALF TIME to win an AWAY league game in eight years.
Just for accuracies sake, it’s not ‘the first time we’ve come from behind to win a league game in eight years’, it’s the first time we’ve won away in the league after losing at half time for eight years.
“The result, the first time we’ve come from behind to win a league game in eight years, will settle nerves at the Emirates after a torrid couple of months. ”
NOT true. The year that Leicester City won the title, we came back from 0-1 to beat them 2-1 on the last minute header by Danny Welbeck, assisted by Mesut Özil.
We have won many league games at home after being behind. The stat applies to away matches
So relieved to pick up that win! After that diabolical deflection for Wet Hams goal I thought we were done for again, but we finally got our act together. Martinelli was brilliant, Pepe was brilliant, Aubameyang’s finish was ridiculous, Ozil had a hand in all three goals … FINALLY! I have to wonder though, am I the only one who thinks both of those challenges on Pepe should have seen red cards? They were shocking! First one a scissor from behind, second one studs first straight into the leg. Textbook red cards, in my book. Dean usually loves pulling out… Read more »
No, you are not alone.
The answers lies with two words:
Mike Dean
Agreed, Especially the second. Totally reckless and Creswell ended up hurting himself besides Pepe.
My wife is seriously pissed off with me and is suggesting I support another team…like her dad’s Sheffield Utd…I’m more likely to file for divorce…but this is not good for my health.
It’s amazing what can happen when you put round pegs in round holes.
What a relief that was!
“The result, the first time we’ve come from behind to win a league game in eight years”
Right?
Despite the scoreline, we remain unconvincing. It was a VERY welcome win to say the least don’t get me wrong and will boost our confidence levels. BUT many issues still remain guised by the fact that West Ham are a poor side on a poor run too and collapsed 60 minutes on when they began to tire. Yet again we were : 1) Tentative and overly cautious (Tetchiness somewhat understandable bc we have had such propensity to leak goals last couple of months if not for a while now). Too many passes back to defense and too many extra touches… Read more »
That first half was putrid. I was so disgusted I nearly turned the tv off at the half. They seemed timid and tentative. Glad I stayed with it. That was one hell of a lovely ball Torreira played to Kolasinac and an equally lovely pass to Martinelli to get our first goal. Took a moment to register that’s what attacking football looks like in an Arsenal shirt. It’s been a while. If Freddie is going to stick with the 4-3-3, Martinelli has to be first choice on Auba’s left. The kid has that wonderful combination of working hard, having a… Read more »
Luiz out and it took a while to not be scared to push forward. But when we did, oh boy, that was the key to unleashing the talent we have upfront.
Being able to hold a high line is more to do with Luiz than Sokratis, who actually doesn’t have a half bad recovery pace.
Torreira moving between the lines and picking out a pass was what Emery was trying to do with him and perhaps it may have had roots in the training that they had worked on. As an all tackling style doesn’t really exist in modern football, more versatility is required and Torreira is showing some improvement as an alternative to the driving runs of Willock.
We look alot more balanced both vertically and horizontally. Across the pitch we have central dangers in Auba and Ozil and then the balance of threats of Martinelli and Pepe holding the ball up whilst dribbling and creating space for others, particularly Auba. Vertically we are more compact and sitting less deep, something Emery was unable to sort out. Overally a solid 8 for Freddie, after picking the usual suspects and demanding more he is making more choices in tune with his own philosophy. A real evolution than evolution. Very reminiscent of Wenger imo. He is creating balance and allowing… Read more »
Blogs is this the answer you were looking for in sacking Emery. Making the individuals less isolated both in and out of possession. So the support of the teammates is more immediate and so are the fans…
Would Arteta or Vieira be able to do better than Freddie right now?
Watched the first half live this morning. Had to go out at half time, and to be honest I wasn’t really bothered. Expected to come home and just check the score to see how badly we’d lost. Weakened while I was out standing in a queue I checked Optus Sport on the phone to hear we were even more dire in the second half. Gave the damn screen one more swipe before packing it in as a bad job and We Scored!!!! Couldn’t believe it. Still holding the phone when I reached the front of the queue and the score’s… Read more »
It’s fantastic to get a win at last, but I’m not getting carried away just yet. It took us until the 60th minute to start playing properly and it’s clear to see the team’s confidence is still fragile