Defensive duo Arsenal give Arteta important victory in derby


Sunday, May 1, 2022 at 7:24 PM• Jordi Tomasowa • Last update: 19:27

Arsenal did good business on Sunday evening in the battle for a Champions League ticket. On a visit to West Ham United, coach Mikel Arteta’s team recorded a 1-2 victory thanks to goals from central duo Rob Holding and Gabriel, which means that the fourth place is again taken over from Tottenham Hotspur. With four Premier League matches to go, the lead is at the Spurs currently two points.

West Ham lost 1-2 in the semi-final of the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday. On the Hammers the task of securing a European final in Germany next week. The poor starting position was reason for manager David Moyes to give strong holders Tomas Soucek and Michail Antonio a rest. Knowing that Tottenham Hotspur won 3-1 at home against Leicester City on Sunday afternoon, Arsenal did enter at full strength, but there was no question of any eagerness in the first half.

Still, the match burned loose late in the first company, after the visitors came out very quickly after Jarrod Bowen’s sloppy loss of the ball. Lukasz Fabianski narrowly saved Eddie Nketiah’s shot, but had to give in at the corner that followed when Holding made a good header into the far corner: 0-1. On the other hand, it was then also almost hit from a corner. Declan Rice thought he could surprise Aaron Ramsdale with a header near the far post, but Arsenal’s closing post proved its worth with an excellent reflex.

On the stroke of half-time, things still went wrong for Mikel Arteta’s team. Vladimír Coufal was released on the right flank with a cross pass. The right back served Bowen, who rebalanced the score through Gabriel’s legs: 1-1. In the second half it went back and forth and there was no question of scanning for a long time. The great danger was nevertheless created only by visitors. For example, Fabianski first had to act when Bukayo Saka tried in the short corner.

For the second time, Arsenal then managed to take down West Ham’s stiff defense from a corner. This time Holding was stopped, but after the home team did not process the corner well, Gabriel was able to nod in at the far post: 1-2. By bringing in Soucek and Antonio, Moyes hoped at least to get a point out of the fire. However, West Ham proved to be offensively impotent after the break and almost ran into 1-3 through the counter. Twice Nketiah alone failed to close the game.

No. Team m W G V † Pnt
1 Manchester City 34 26 5 3 63 83
2 Liverpool 34 25 7 2 64 82
3 Chelsea 34 19 9 6 39 66
4 Arsenal 34 20 3 11 13 63
5 Tottenham Hotspur 34 19 4 11 20 61
6 Manchester United 35 15 10 10 2 55
7 West Ham United 35 15 7 13 7 52
8 Wolverhampton W. 34 15 4 15 1 49
9 Brighton & Hove Albion 35 10 14 11 -8 44
10 Newcastle United 35 11 10 14 -16 43
11 Leicester City 33 11 9 13 -6 42
12 Crystal Palace 34 9 14 11 3 41
13 Aston Villa 33 12 4 17 -2 40
14 Brentford 34 11 7 16 -8 40
15 Southampton 35 9 13 13 -17 40
16 Burnley 34 7 13 14 -15 34
17 Leeds United 34 8 10 16 -34 34
18 Everton 33 9 5 19 -20 32
19 Watford 34 6 4 24 -37 22
20 Norwich City 34 5 6 23 -49 21