**FA PREMIERLEAGUE**
**ARSENAL 0**
**WEST HAM 1 (Bowen 43)**
ALL the talk on the way to the stadium was about how a flagging Liverpool side might slip up against City tomorrow, and put the title in Arsenal’s hands.
With the Gunners potentially six points behind with a game in hand and the visit to Anfield to come, everything was to play for.
But the cold facts are that this injury ravaged front line is not anywhere near championship material.
There is a softness as well as a lack of creativity to the attacking play.
Mikel Merino found that playing as a number 9 against two walls of defenders is not the same as coming on against Leicester with the game stretched.
Martin Odegaard’s fancy footwork is all very well and good. But he was very ineffective today, sometimes almost slowing the attacks down due to over-jinkery He had one shot that almost hit the big screen.
Poor shooting – high and wide, straight down the middle – culminated in Arsenal’s first defeat of the season.
Miles Lewis-Skelly was sent off after being subbed on after a yellow was converted to a red via the VAR.
He found himself stranded and got caught-up with the ball on the half way line.
Kudus pounced and he ended up scything him down in desperation.
It was a poor challenge, and there will be few arguments about this red card.
Even without the red, the match was already drifting away from the Gunners.
The atmosphere had been anxious almost from the start and around an hour in it was feeling very much the vibes of Aston Villa’s crushing win here last season – and we are not even in March.
Bowen scored both central defenders and David Raya left the West Ham front man alone to have a free header.
But more to blame was Calafiori – the very slow addition to the squad last summer – who failed to close down Aaron Wan-Bissaka and stop his cross coming in.
A little earlier there had been a warning sign, as the left back had been sluggish racing back against Wan-Bissaka. He found Bowen, who dragged just wide.
Calafiori doesn’t seem to be a good option for teams playing on the counter, as so many are against Arsenal.
Ethan Nwaneri seemed to be feeling the pressure of expectation, looking hungry but a little bit lost in the opening minutes.
He gave the ball away a few times and his positioning looked a little bit uncertain.
But two bits of Bergkamp-style control drew gasps from the home fans.
It’s feels a while since the Wenger days, when you would regularly here gasps of amazement at the first touches and control.
West Ham’s Scarles – playing on the left of a five man defence – won the battle against him.
Trossard was particularly poor in a game when there was nothing really to complain about – no real injustices.
Just a load of wayward shooting and panicky passes.
Reasons to be cheerful: Ben White is back.
There was a minutes’ silence for Jacob Kelly – one of the “Ashburton Army” – who has died aged 23, reportedly from a suicide.
A mural has gone up outside the Eaglet pub in Seven Sisters Road and fans are raising funds to help with the cost of his funeral.
[https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jacobkelly?utm\_term=nB8yre23y](https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jacobkelly?utm_term=nB8yre23y)
**Arsenal:** Raya, Timber, Saliba (White 86), Gabriel, Calafiori (Zinchenko 56), Partey, Rice (Lewis-Skelly 56), Odegaard, Trossard, Nwaneri (Sterling 84), Merino
**Subs not used:** Neto, Tierney, Kiwior, Jorginho, Oyedeji,
**West Ham:** Areola, Cresswell, Ward-Prowse, Kudus, Alvarez, Bowen, Tobido (Marvrapanos 61), Kilman, Soucek, Bissaka, Scarles.
**Subs not used:** Fabianski, Soler, Guilhernn, Ings, Rodriguez, Emerson, Ferguson, Young