April 16, 2023
We were held to a frustrating draw against West Ham on Sunday after the hosts rallied from 2-0 down to take a point.
Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard helped us make the perfect start with two-well worked team goals, but Said Benrahma pulled one back from the spot.
Bukayo Saka then went on to miss a penalty, before West Ham went up the other end and equalised through Jarrod Bowen.
We remain unbeaten in our last nine Premier League fixtures, and are four points ahead of Manchester City at the top of the table, having played one game more.
Aggressive and front-footed from the start, we opened the scoring inside six minutes with a wonderful blend of patient, yet incisive attacking play. Working the ball around the edge of the area, four players combined before Odegaard slipped Ben White through down the right side of the penalty area, squaring for Jesus to finish at the far post.
Our tails were up and moments later we doubled our lead through our captain. This time the killer final pass arrived from the left wing with Gabriel Martinelli switching play for Odegaard to finish with a side-foot volley.
Mikel Arteta's side looked in complete control both in and out of possession, but with one mistake, we were punished against the run of play.
Thomas Partey lost possession on the edge of the penalty area and allowed West Ham to break, resulting in a lunged tackle from Gabriel on his compatriot Lucas Paqueta. The referee pointed to the spot and Benrahma sent Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way.
Despite our early dominance, West Ham finished the first half with more than twice as many shots at goal, nine to our four.
Following the restart, we had the chance to restore our two-goal advantage as the ball was cleared to Martinelli on the edge of the area and his volley was blocked by the outstretched arm of Michail Antonio. Saka stepped up and aimed for the top left corner, but his curling effort sailed wide.
Just two minutes later, West Ham drew level. Thilo Kehrer played a searching pass over the top of our defence and Bowen was on hand to fire past Ramsdale on the volley.
As we entered the final 30 minutes, both sides continued to search for a later winner with counter-attacks becoming increasingly regular.
First, Kieran Tierney's driven cross was narrowly missed by Jesus at full stretch, before Saka charged forward on the break and forced a save from a promising position.
At the other end of the pitch, Antonio met a cross at the far post and saw his header bounce behind off the woodwork.
We made a number of late changes with Eddie Nketiah making his full return from injury and pushed forward in hope of creating one last chance, but we were unable to cut through the Hammers' defence again.
#arsenal
Enjoy match highlights, training and behind the scenes to get closer to the likes of Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka, Vivianne Miedema, Leah Williamson,Gabriel Jesus, Alex Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kim Little, Gabriel Martinelli, Beth Mead, Aaron Ramsda
By Arsenal
