West Ham 2-5 Arsenal: An extraordinary game of two halves

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Arsenal moved up to second place in the Premier League after a quite extraordinary first half against West Ham. So much so that by the time the final whistle blew, the repercussions of that first 45 minutes were hard to shake. We’d just won 5-2, away from home, and yet there was something nagging.

In the cold light of day, I suspect it was Gary Neville’s voice and those weird little ‘Ooouurrrggh’ noises he makes. And I’m not even really joking. It’s like hearing a rat scratching in the walls. It stops, but you’re on edge just waiting for it to start again. I think it was also a bit about being so far ahead, then conceding twice quite quickly, and immediately having flashbacks to Newcastle. Some scars run deep, you know. In reality, Arsenal were by far the better side, fully merited the win and the positives we can take from this, but it felt a bit like being excited that you got a shiny new car, but scratched the paintwork when you were parking it in the drive.

It started well when a thing that feels almost inevitable happened again: Gabriel scored from a corner. Bukayo Saka’s delivery was perfect for the routine in question, Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber did their jobs as blockers, and the big Brazilian headed home. It was quite funny to see Sky trying to unpack the details of how it happened afterwards, even going so far as to ask about the routines Mikel Arteta in his post-match interview. “I can’t”, he said, politely, when we all know he meant, “I won’t.”

The second goal arrived in the 27th minute. Saka, who had earlier curled one just wide, picked up the ball from Kai Havertz. He cut inside, fed Martin Odegaard, whose return pass turned the entire West Ham defence into statues as Saka kept going. Then it was just a case of a one-touch pass to the back post where Leandro Trossard had the easy job of knocking the ball into the net for 2-0. Superbly executed football from Arsenal, a move we made look simple but which relied on the moving parts being completely in sync.

Minutes later, as Saka continued to do mischief to the Hammers, we had a penalty. He drove into the box, Lucas Paqueta stuck out a leg, and the referee pointed to the spot. What might get lost in the build-up is the perfectly cushioned header from Havertz after Raya launched the ball forward, and a similarly deft touch from the captain to find Saka on the right. From there he went on his run which led to the spot-kick. It looked like he was going to take it, but he handed the ball to Odegaard who made no mistake, firing into the bottom corner for his first goal of the season.

Trossard’s brilliant first time pass sent Havertz through to make it 4-0. There was a time I’d have been less than convinced in the German’s ability to make the most of that kind of chance. Not these days. He’s a different player, and while I don’t think Lukasz Fabianski made it particularly difficult for him, he slotted it home and like this game last season, we were four goals ahead in the first half at the London Stadium.

Then a wobble, if you can call it that. Perhaps the first one can go down as a lapse in concentration. Carlos Soler was given too much time to pick an excellent pass for Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s run, Trossard and Calafiori were not on their toes, and the finish at the near post gave West Ham a lifeline.

A minute later referee gave them a free kick which was never a free kick, Declan Rice won the ball, but take nothing away from Emerson’s finish. That was as good as it gets, Raya had no chance, and all of a sudden things felt a lot less comfortable. Conceding two in such a short space of time always feels more dangerous, as if the wheels are gonna come off, and home fans who had been seeking the exits found their seats again. Understandably, the atmosphere changed, and you couldn’t help but worry a little.

The second penalty of the night restored the comfort zone though. Fabianski came to punch the ball, sideswiped Gabriel instead, and eventually the ref pointed to the spot. This time it was Saka, not his most convincing finish from 12 yards, but it went in and that’s all that counts. At the break, West Ham 5-2 Arsenal, and it was a remarkable first half of football.

Football can be utterly mental sometimes. This is one of those times!

— arseblog (@arseblog.com) November 30, 2024 at 6:22 PM

I’d love to have been a fly on the wall at the break. How do you even explain what you’ve just seen? What kind of team-talk would you give? I guess it would be just ‘Don’t do anything stupid’ as a base, because with a three goal lead you’re in a commanding position. 5-2 feels different from 3-0 though, and the way the game went, you couldn’t rule out more madness.

There was a half-time change with Jakub Kiwior replacing Gabriel. It wasn’t made as a concussion substitution, and Arteta said afterwards it was linked to the problem that forced him off against Sporting. He did look a bit wobbly after that Fabianski right-hander though, and I wonder if they just played it sensible, as well as not listing as concussion in case the protocols might have a impact on his availability in midweek.

Soon, Calafiori was replaced by Oleksandr Zinchenko, so that entire side of our defence had changed. West Ham were allowed get stuck in by the referee, and that worried me a little. It was odd how he had the energy to scold Havertz for simply chasing down an opponent, but nothing for some of the challenges that left Saka and Odegaard down in a heap.

In truth, the second half felt like two sides going through the motions. Arteta brought on Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling, then Ethan Nwaneri to provide defensive cover on the same side as the man on loan. There were half-chances, moments, a couple of shots into the side-netting, but the game had been done and won in that first 45 minutes. We did a job after the break, and did it pretty well, even if it lacked the excitement we’d seen previously.

Afterwards, Arteta said:

It was a spectacular 30 minutes. Straight away, how much the team wanted it, the purpose, the determination, the quality that we deliver, to score three great goals in different ways and then score the fourth one in a great way as well. But then after that, we had a period where the individual quality of them play a big part. 4-2, and then it’s game on, you can sense the energy change and then what’s next. I think it’s great to score the fifth one because that calmed everything down. For the second half, we could play a very different game, that it was much more suited to us.

So, in two successive away games, we’ve scored 5 goals. By any measure that is impressive, and winning 5-2 on your travels is not to be sniffed at by any means. Some of the football we played in the first half was superb. Credit to someone like Jorginho who hasn’t had a lot of 90 minute games, but who was needed yesterday because of other midfield absences. Odegaard and Havertz were so good, but the star man was our star man: Bukayo Saka.

It’s impossible – and wrong – not to give him a special mention this morning. When you finish a game with a goal, two assists, winning a penalty, and causing West Ham problems they simply couldn’t live with, you deserve your flowers. He tormented them all night long, and his output and end-product is sensational. He’s on 10 Premier League assists now, from 13 games. We had a question a few weeks ago on the Arsecast Extra about whether he can break Thierry Henry’s record of 20. I was positive he could back them, I’m even more so now.

In all competitions, he has played 18 games, scored 7 and made 11 assists. He’s averaging a goal contribution in every game, which is quite special – and I love the way he went to stick up for his teammate when Emerson gave Timber a sly kick on the ground. He’s matured into everything you could ever want from a player. I also think the chat about his understanding with Odegaard, while unquestionably true, overlooks the fact that Havertz is part of it too. Perhaps not quite as obviously, but watch when those two start to click, the German is almost always adjacent in some way, and that dynamic has been so important to recent results and performances.

Right, I’ll leave it there for now, and hopefully there are no more injury issues as we prepare for a big midweek game against Man Utd. You can join us tomorrow for an Arsecast Extra, and let’s hope there’s a decent outcome for us in today’s big game at Anfield.

Have a great Sunday.

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