Declan Rice Leads Arsenal To Win London Derby Against West Ham

 

Arsenal continued their impressive form, winning the London derby against West Ham by 2-0, and they consolidated their position in the Premier League. 

The Gunners have remained unbeaten since losing to Liverpool at Anfield Stadium. Last weekend, they resisted humiliation from Newcastle United, making a comeback from a goal deficit to beat the Magpies, with a stoppage-time goal from Gabriel Martinelli. 

West Ham's resolve was broken in the 38th when Eberechi Eze lounged into the box and forced a save from Alphonse Areola, whose rebound landed rightly for Declan Rice to side-foot a shot into the net. The scoreline remained 1-0 until an hour of play, when Bukayo Saka found a spot kick. 

Jurrien Timber latched onto the box after Martin Zubimendi played him in before El Hadji Malick Diof obstructed him on the edge of the box, and a penalty was awarded to Arsenal. Saka stepped up to take the spot kick and converted the advantage. 

The victory put Arsenal in a favourable position to contest the Premier League top spot with Liverpool, as Mikel Arteta earned his 177th victory in 300 games in all competitions. It was the game for Saka to celebrate his 100th goal involvement in the Premier League, with 55 goals and 45 assists.  

Overview

West Ham were relentless and occasionally put Arsenal's defense to work. However, those efforts could not break the Gunners' resolve. Gyokeres continues to struggle with getting goals as a striker.  The visitors became physical and frustrated as Arsenal dominated their half, particularly from the right wing. 

Calafiori was prominent at the front each time he overlapped. However, the opening goal was crafted from Eze's attempt, and Declan Rice side-footed the ball into the net before Bukayo Saka put the game to bed with the winner from a penalty. Diofi did a good at holding off his opponents until he was physical enough to draw a penalty for Arsenal.