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West Ham prodigy Reece Oxford would not be fazed by Lionel Messi said his manager Slaven Bilic.
Only 16, the midfielder was absolutely excellent in his Premier League debut despite facing the might of Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil at the Emirates.
Oxford, a defensive midfielder, was a surprise inclusion by Bilic but became one of the most talked about players of the opening weekend, with Ozil especially drawing huge criticism for 'being in Oxford's pocket' .
At 16 years and 237 days he became West Ham's youngest player to play in the Premier League and the second-youngest player to start since the division was formed in 1992.
Show all 24 1 /24Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Petr Cech A disastrous debut for the summer signing, and likely aberration rather than omen. But either way, he should not have conceded either effort. 2/10
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Mathieu Debuchy Looks much fitter than he has in recent months, bombing past Oxlade-Chamberlain with purpose and pace. 6
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Laurent Koscielny Covered well behind his colleagues, never putting a foot wrong throughout as he dealt with Sakho’s pace. 6
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Per Mertesacker Did little wrong in defence but seemed rattled after Cech conceded the opener, often distributing poorly when under no pressure. 5
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Nacho Monreal Struggled more than most with the dangerous Payet and failed to offer much going forward, too often choosing the sideways option. 5
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Francis Coquelin Several poor passes spoilt Coquelin’s afternoon. His touch-tackling physicality was not required against a West Ham side happy to cede possession. 5
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Aaron Ramsey Perhaps the least impressive of Arsenal’s midfield options, consistently making the wrong decision. He passed when he should have shot and took wild efforts when his colleagues were in space. 4
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Oxlade Chamberlain The only starting attacker to end in credit, his pacey running seemed the home side’s best chance to find the net as everyone else tried to pass the ball past West Ham’s massed ranks. 6
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Mesut Ozil His aversion to shooting is far from helpful when his opponent’s crowd the penalty area. Couldn’t quite slip in the through ball he was so desperate to find. 5
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Santi Cazorla Another whose passing radar was malfunctioning, he kept popping up around the pitch looking to influence but could not get his game going. 5
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Olivier Giroud His touch deserted him for much of the first half as he lost all confidence in front of goal. With that gone he looked nowhere near a line-leader for a relegation candidate, let alone a title-winner. 3
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Theo Walcott Off the bench: Convinced himself he would be the hero after his introduction, trying ambitious efforts and impossible passes. He failed. 5
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Alexis Sanchez Off the bench: His introduction provided a brief spark for his colleagues but it was far from enough and a rusty Sanchez lacked the final devastating touch, as he showed by slipping with his one effort late on. 6
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Adrian In spite of Arsenal’s attacking barrage the goalkeeper did not have much to do, but saved well when called upon. 7
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings James Tomkins A couple of loose fouls blotted his copy book but this was a committed performance from the makeshift right-back, who got in the way of Ozil time and again. 7
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Winston Reid An immovable object in West Ham’s defence, he smartly allowed Arsenal to play in front of him, keeping his body between the ball and goal. 8
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Angelo Ogbonna Did not let an early yellow card spook him and carried on well with his task, getting a head on anything near him and showing smat vision on the ball. 8
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Aaron Cresswell Largely neutered as an attacking thought by the pacey Oxlade-Chamberlain but another to put in an exemplary defensive shift, particularly covering Walcott smartly by allowing him to try ambitious shots. 7
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Cheikhou Kouyate The star of the show and the player who made West Ham’s football work, his awareness of where his opponents were and where the threat might come from was exemplary. Thoroughly deserved his goal. 8
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Reece Oxford Did excellent work as a deep-lying midfielder, shuffling back smartly so that when Arsenal beat one defender he was soon in their way. 7
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Mark Noble Distributed well from deep, enabling Payet and Sakho to lead counters from dangerous positions. 7
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Dimitri Payet Showed plenty of the skill and confidence that convinced West Ham to shell out eight figures on him, showing fantastic delivery and dazzling skill to impress the visiting supporters. 8
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Mauro Zarate Bar a bobbled second goal he was notable by his absence in a hard-working away side, struggling to impose himself on the game. 6
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Arsenal 0 West Ham 2 player ratings Diafra Sakho Did noble work ploughing a lonely furrow against two defenders with far more size. Looked to exploit Mertesacker’s lack of pace smartly. 8
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"If Messi was in front of me, I'd be more fazed than Reece," Bilic said after the victory.
The youth product, who signed a long-term deal to stay at the club in January finished with the best pass percentage in the match, a massive 95 per cent.
"People were asking: 'Are you sure he is 16?'," added Bilic.
"It was going to be a risk but he has got something. I am very proud of him. Only on paper he is 16. He is a part of this new generation."
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