West Ham United 2-5 Arsenal
Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 30 November 2024, 5.30pm GMT
West Ham endured a painful night in east London as a first-half onslaught saw Arsenal race away into an unassailable lead to inflict our heaviest Premier League defeat of the season.
In a breathless end-to-end game, we fell behind early on when Gabriel opened the scoring from a corner in the tenth minute, and Arsenal kept their foot on the gas and raced away into a four-goal lead by the 36th minute.
Two quick-fire goals from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson gave the hosts brief hope, but Bukayo Saka’s penalty in first half stoppage time made it 5-2 at half-time. It was only the fourth time ever that the first-half of a Premier League match had contained seven goals, and there was no longer any way back for the Hammers.
The 152nd derby between the sides saw West Ham come into the game having turned in a fine away performance at Newcastle United, while Arsenal were looking to build on their emphatic midweek UEFA Champions League win at Sporting CP in Portugal.
Another fixture in front of the Sky Sports TV cameras, another sold-out home atmosphere to try thrive off, and we did just that inside the opening five minutes. Jarrod Bowen, who had scored in four of his five home appearances against the Gunners in all competitions, looked lively in the opening exchanges, beating his marker on several occasions on the right-hand side but West Ham could not capitalise on his productivity.
The Hammers pressed high with aggression, but Arsenal soon found their rhythm and took the lead with just ten minutes played, as Gabriel made it 1-0. Saka sent a devilish corner into the area, and defender peeled away from his marker and steered home his near-post header.
At the other end, West Ham thought they had an equaliser after 17 minutes when a slide-rule pass by Bowen split the Gunners’ defence open and was met by the speedy Crysencio Summerville, who dinked beautifully beyond David Raya. However, the winger had strayed into an offside position and his celebrations were cut short by an offside flag, which was duly verified by VAR.
Arsenal turned the screw even more, with the Irons almost camped permanently in their own box, resisting wave after wave of attack and keeping the visitors at arm's length. It felt like just a matter of time before the Gunners scored again. Chances came and went, but there was an inevitability about proceedings and when Saka played a neat one-two with Martin Ødegaard, the England forward ghosted past the Hammers’ back line and then squared it across goal, with Leandro Trossard arriving at the back post to tap in point-blank range.
West Ham were all at sea and they were overwhelmed again moments later when Arsenal were awarded a penalty after Lucas Paquetá was adjudged to have brought down Saka in the box.
Ødegaard made no mistake from the spot, rifling home into the bottom right-hand corner for Arsenal’s third. And a miserable opening spell was completed within two minutes when Kai Havertz ran on to a defence-splitting pass from Trossard to slot home, and it appeared to be effectively game over.
It was a test of our resolve but Julen Lopetegui’s troops sought to reassert control and hit back on 38 minutes. Carlos Soler passed low into the area from the left-hand side and Aaron Wan-Bissaka beat Raya at his near-post to pull one back.
This West Ham team always believes and when Declan Rice fouled Paquetá 25-yards out, Emerson struck a wonderful free-kick into the top right-hand corner to halve the deficit five minutes before half-time.
Any hopes we had of mounting a remarkable comeback were quashed in first-half stoppage time, however, when Arsenal restored their three-goal advantage.
As we entered the last few seconds of the opening half, the ball ping-ponged around West Ham’s penalty area from Saka’s corner. Łukasz Fabiański went to punch the ball away but caught Gabriel instead and referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot for a second time. This time Saka took the honours and made no mistake, slotting the ball with his left foot beyond Fabiański.
After an almost record-breaking first half, it came was no surprise that the second started at a slower pace, with Arsenal well on top but the hosts occasionally threatening. The Gunners fired a further warning shots, Riccardo Calafiori heading wide having escaped his marker, before Bowen and Michail Antonio drove two efforts off-target. Ødegaard was next to try his luck, but his shot was comfortably saved by Fabiański.
What followed was a quieter spell of action as both sides probed for another opening. Substitute Raheem Sterling almost made an immediate impact, firing into the side-netting after a swift counter, and then floated a free-kick over the bar. In truth, the second-half was a huge contrast to the first in terms of goal mouth action.
The Hammers almost netted a consolation late on, as substitute Danny Ings took advantage of a defensive mix-up between William Saliba and Raya, only for the striker to direct his effort wide of the target.
Needless to say, there was no way back for West Ham from 5-2, but we did manage to avoid suffering any further wounds on a painful night at London Stadium.
West Ham United: Fabiański, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson (Coufal 65), Soler (Irving 78), Souček, Paquetá (Rodríguez 78), Summerville (Álvarez 46), Bowen ©, Antonio (Ings 65)
Subs not used: Areola (GK), Mayers, Scarles, Luis Guilherme
Goals: Wan-Bissaka 38, Emerson 40
Booked: Emerson, Summerville, Fabiański, Souček
Arsenal: Raya, Saliba, Gabriel (Kiwior 46), Timber, Calafiori (Zinchenko 56), Jorginho, Rice, Ødegaard © (Jesus 74), Trossard (Nwaneri 84), Saka (Sterling 74), Havertz
Subs not used: Neto (GK), Tierney, Nichols, Martinelli
Goals: Gabriel 10, Trossard 27, Ødegaard 34, Havertz 36, Saka 45+5
Booked: Saka
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Attendance: 62,475
