Arsenal vs West Ham LIVE: Premier League result, final score and reaction tonight
Follow all the reaction from the Emirates Stadium after the Gunners saw off West Ham
Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe fired Arsenal to a 2-0 victory over West Ham and into the top four of the Premier League.
Brazilian forward Martinelli, profiting from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s enforced absence from the squad with a rare run in the Gunners starting line-up, tucked in his second goal of the season early in the second half.
And substitute Smith Rowe doubled the lead late on after Alexandre Lacazette had missed a penalty.
It was enough to inflict defeat on an increasingly weary-looking West Ham side, whose own charge for a Champions League spot has slowed to a crawl in recent weeks.
To add to their problems they were reduced to 10 men when Vladimir Coufal was sent off for bringing down Lacazette, who saw his subsequent penalty saved by Lukasz Fabianski.
Arsenal 0 - 0 West Ham
6 mins: Manuel Lanzini goes on a nice run down the left side for West Ham. He weaves past Bukayo Saka, shifts away from a Martin Odegaard challenge and finally gets stopped by Thomas Partey. West Ham win a free kick and Pablo Fornals plays it inside to Masuaku. Declan Rice makes a run into the box, receives the ball and cuts it back to Craig Dawson who shoots from range and fires his effort wide of goal.
Arsenal 0 - 0 West Ham
3 mins: Close! Lukasz Fabianski takes a big gamble as a pass back comes to the West Ham goalkeeper. He brings the ball under control and looks to play it out from the back. He can’t pick out a quick pass though and almost gets caught on the ball by a pressing Alexandre Lacazette but manages to boot it out of play over on the right wing.
Arsenal 0 - 0 West Ham
Kick off: West Ham kick off David Moyes’ 600th Premier League game as a manager. They send the ball over to the left side and Arthur Masuaku’s ball down the line is sent straight out of play.
Arsenal vs West Ham: Almost time for kick off
The warm-ups are over at the Emirates Stadium. Tonight’s match is a battle for fourth place whoever claims all three points will finish the day in the top four. West Ham currently hold the spot but the Gunners will leapfrog them if they win this evening.
Arsenal vs West Ham: Arteta on West Ham
In his pre-match press conference Mikel Arteta spoke about Arsenal’s opponents tonight and said that West Ham are ‘one of the best’ teams in the Premier League. When asked whether David Moyes’ side impressed him Arteta said:
Very much, and for me one of the best teams in the league. This period... the understanding that they have, the clarity in what they want to do and how much they are able to hurt teams with the way they play has been impressive and they have been really really consistent.
“It’s a big game because of the position they are in, and the position we want to be in. We have the opportunity at home, in front of our people to do that. That would be a big, big boost.”
Arsenal vs West Ham: Antonio’s goal involvements
Only Mohamed Salah has been directly involved in more Premier League goals in 2021 than Michail Antonio, who has scored 13 and provided nine assists.
Arsenal vs West Ham: Lacazette versus West Ham
Alexandre Lacazette has scored a joint-career best five Premier League goals against West Ham, including goals in each of the last three meetings.
Arsenal vs West Ham: Kieran Tierney would give Arsenal direction and identity as Mikel Arteta’s new captain
In a tense and occasionally awkward press conference, Mikel Arteta’s torment was plain to see. Hours earlier a terse club statement had announced the end of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s Arsenal captaincy due to his “latest breach of discipline”, and now Arteta was reliving the hardest conversation of his coaching career. “If I had to choose, I wouldn’t like to be here talking about it,” he said. “[Our relationship was] really, really good, that’s why it’s painful.”
But as the dust settles, removing Aubameyang from the captaincy appears like a ruthless but sensible decision.
Disciplinary problems have offered the manager a chance to put his own stamp on the role and whoever comes next must now embody everything Arteta wants his team to become. Yet choosing Aubameyang’s replacement will not be easy, and it is a choice which could come to define the Arteta era.
Kieran Tierney would give Arsenal identity as Mikel Arteta’s new captain
Kieran Tierney’s tenacity represents everything Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to become and the defender would be a bold statement to succeed the deposed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Arsenal vs West Ham: Moyes reaches 600
West Ham manager David Moyes will become the fourth manager to take charge of 600 Premier League games, emulating Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson and Harry Redknapp when he takes charge of the Hammers tonight.
Despite his longevity Moyes has failed to win away at Arsenal in all 17 attempts in the Premier League - the longest run of any manager against a single club without ever winning.
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