Premier League 2018-19, Arsenal 3-1 West Ham United: Hits and flops from the game
Arsenal registered their first win of the season as they beat West Ham 3-1 to mount more misery on Manuel Pellegrini, who is yet to break his duck in the league this season. After the away side through Marco Arnautovic, Unai Emery's men notched three goals to prevent a third defeat in a row.
The game began in a composed manner for both sides, with Arsenal dominating possession and the Hammers sitting deeper.
The first big chance came when Masuaku gave the ball away, which set Bellerin in space. His cross fell to Mkhitaryan, whose sweetly struck volley was saved by Fabianski. Ramsey on the follow-up found the back of the net but was offside. Moments later, Arnautovic hit the side netting after a good spell of possession from the visitors.
Despite frailties at the back, West Ham looked threatening getting forward. However, the majority of the play came from the middle third of the pitch.
A superb counter-attacking move was capped off by Arnautovic, who drilled a shot past Cech to give put his side in front. Six minutes later, Nacho Monreal restored parity.
Owing to their sloppiness, the Gunners invited pressure by giving away plenty of possession to the visitors, who couldn't quite punish them.
Mustafi rose high to get his header on target, only to be denied by Fabianski. Cech was called into action many a time at the other end too, but neither side managed to take the game by the scruff of its neck.
A scratchy goal then came as a cross from Lacazette deflected off Diop. Late on, Danny Welbeck put the game to bed by dispatching a Bellerin cross.
Here are 5 players who underwent the most contrasting of expeditions at the Emirates:
#5 Best: Alexandre Lacazette
Arsenal had a fair share of possession in midfield, but very little of it was transferred and transitioned into the final third. Apart from a few chances, no players were really involved as a collective unit. However, the inclusion of Lacazette made a huge difference.
The forward shifted to the right and played next to the likes of Mkhitaryan and Bellerin, whereas Aubameyang, Monreal and Ramsey occupied the left side of the pitch in Iwobi's absence.
Lacazette interchanged play quite often, picked the overlapping runs of Bellerin, took his chances in the box and looked composed while under pressure from the West Ham defenders.
He brought about a sense of cohesion about the way Arsenal played in the second half.
Also to mention, he grabbed a vital assist for his team's second goal, as it was his cross that deflected off Diop.