After a disorientating few weeks where West Ham have stumbled from decent performance without reward to underwhelming showing with good result, the Hammers finally managed an inverse-Newcastle – a good performance with a good result against a good side. This match will mostly be looked at through the lens of Arsenal’s title race – a stumble on the last lap as the psychological impact of Man City’s relentless pursuit begins to show – but this was a huge result for West Ham who finally managed to produce a classic David Moyes performance. The boss may be off at the end of the season but a few more games like this between now and then might give Hammers fans the chance to remember him a little more fondly.
Łukasz Fabiański – 6
Bar a few simple saves in the second half, Fabiański had little to do in the match. He could do nothing to stop either of Arsenal’s goals.
Vladimír Coufal – 9
Another hugely impressive individual performance from Coufal who defended excellently in a difficult opening 30 minutes before becoming a key weapon in attack with his long throws into the Arsenal box. He made some excellent early tackles on Kieran Tierney, Martinelli, and Gabriel Jesus prior to a fantastic recovery run to tackle the Brazilian striker when he looked set to race through from Martinelli’s 23rd minute flick. He could’ve come away with an assist from an inch-perfect free-kick delivery too but Michail Antonio headed into the ground and over via Aaron Ramsdale.
Kurt Zouma – 8
As you’d expect, Zouma went about his aerial battles with Arsenal’s somewhat diminutive frontline with little fuss – the Frenchman was excellent throughout as he headed and cleared everything that came into his zone whilst contributing some useful moments in deeper build-up and some well placed long balls into the space behind Rob Holding. His highlight was a vital 12th minute interception to stop Arsenal from scoring three in quick succession when Gabriel Jesus looked set to run straight onto Martin Ødegaard’s defence-splitting pass.
Thilo Kehrer – 6
Kehrer had a rocky start in this one with a couple of shanked clearances and lost duels that led to dangerous Arsenal attacks – it was clearly the left side of the West Ham defence that looked vulnerable in Arsenal’s best periods of the match – but the German defender did impress in West Ham’s better moments either side of half-time. It was his looped ball back into the penalty area that Jarrod Bowen profited from for the equaliser and he was ice-cool when playing out under pressure.
Aaron Cresswell – 6
After a nightmare start where Aaron Cresswell and Saïd Benerahma couldn’t work out how to cover the excellent runs and rotations leaving Bukayo Saka and Ben White free, Cresswell went on to put in a solid display at left-back. He was generally comfortable from the 20th minute onwards and provided some typically dangerous deliveries from corners that could’ve led to more.
Tomáš Souček – 6
Souček struggled with the midfield overloads Arsenal were able to generate early in the match as Jesus and Tierney moved into his zone and made it difficult for him to cover both the space and Granit Xhaka simultaneously. He improved in the second half as West Ham’s direct style followed by a low block late in the match brought out some of his strengths and made one crucial block to deny Saka in the 49th minute.
Declan Rice – 8
Given the task of holding the fort in midfield while picking the right moments to race out and press Thomas Partey, Rice did an excellent job in a complex role. His pressures set the tone in the first five minutes, and although West Ham lost momentum after Arsenal’s quickfire double, it was Rice’s aggressive approach on Partey that eventually led to the penalty. He made one glaring mistake in the 64th minute when he was caught out of position allowing a direct pass to Jesus and an excellent chance for Arsenal.
Lucas Paquetá – 6
An imperfect display as the Brazilian suffered from the same overloading issues that Souček struggled with in the first half before recovering in a much-improved second half display. Paquetá’s reaction to the two goals was disappointing as he immediately lost intensity in the duels and became a weak link out of possession until his flop to win the penalty rebalanced the game. He was then a key part of West Ham’s most fluent moves in the second period until a terrible pass on the edge of Arsenal’s box allowed the Gunners to break free on a dangerous counter. Moyes switched to more of a low block shortly after this and Paquetá had little impact before being replaced by Flynn Downes for the last few minutes.
Jarrod Bowen – 9
Bowen took his equalising goal fantastically as he raced back to get onside before latching onto the loose ball to finish exquisitely but this was just one positive in a performance full of excellent moments. The winger displayed brilliant awareness, hold-up-play, carrying ability, final third quality, and defensive anticipation with total commitment throughout in an all-round outstanding performance. He could’ve had one assist late in the first half when he drove outside Tierney to force a corner which he then delivered perfectly to the back post and another when he did the same again before crossing superbly in the 57th minute. He nearly added a second goal when he surged inside off his flank in the 77th minute and created the space to hit the far corner only to find Tierney in the way – this took some outstanding defending from the Scotsman. Even late on – when West Ham were camped in their own box – Bowen still managed to combine with Paquetá and release Benrahma for a dangerous counter. Still, the highlight would have to be his anticipation and defensive excellence when he tracked Martinelli all the way to his own goalline and leapt high to head clear.
Michail Antonio – 8
How we have missed this… Michail Antonio was at his very best for the best part of an hour on Sunday as he carried upfield brilliantly and chased every clearance with such determination that Arsenal’s centre-backs were forced into shanked clearances that allowed Moyes’ side to generate pressure. He should’ve been taken off about 20 minutes before he eventually was but (at 33) this was a gutsy display from the West Ham number nine.
Saïd Benrahma – 7
Benrahma played a key role in both Arsenal goals as he switched off and lost his man on both occasions but the Algerian’s brilliance from the 20th minute to the end of the first half somehow managed to outweigh the disappointment of such a terrible start. He pressed excellently, took his penalty well, and carried upfield fantastically to relieve pressure and generate attacking opportunities via set-pieces. He should’ve gambled at the back post to tap home Bowen’s cross and wrecked a promising late counter with a loose pass in a quiet second half showing that burst into some life in the final 15 when he spun to play Bowen through and crossed for Antonio’s late headed chance.
Flynn Downes, Maxwel Cornet, Pablo Fornals – N/A
