West Ham 0 – Arsenal 3: Dominant Arsenal Coast to 3 Points (UPDATED with Player Ratings)

Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?

A 3 points richly deserved from Arsenal today. It’s easy to say it’s only West Ham. But West Ham have played us pretty tough the last couple of seasons. We are on a bad run of form, whereas they’ve been playing okay lately. And they were playing to save the job of Avram Grant, who by all accounts is a popular manager among the players. Winning way 3-0 in the Premiership is always, always a good result now, and we got it. And we earned it.

The first half was pretty much all Arsenal, and it looked from the beginning like we were ready to push on from the last couple of weeks and push on to try to win the league.

We were in control from the outset, getting and keeping possession in and around the West Ham box, although we were having trouble turning that into clear cut chances — Walcott fell one time when on the ball in a dangerous position and we had several scuffed shots.

But we broke through in the 13th minute on a beautiful goal. Cesc sent the ball out wide to the right for Theo, who had plenty of space and time to send a perfect ball into the middle of the box. Nasri had run into the right side of the box, and the ball came directly to him. But he had the presence to know that Robin was directly behind him on the edge of the six-yard box. The ball came straight to him, and Robin reminded us all of what a lethal striker he is, taking the shot absolutely brilliant first-time (with his “chocolate leg,” no less) just inside the near post, leaving Robert Green no chance. Beautiful team goal, and it was 1-0 to the Arsenal.

We had a couple of other chances pretty soon after that. Wilshere, in particular, should have done better when he received the ball in space on the edge of the box, but his nerve and touch failed him, as he accidentally booted the ball too far ahead of him into the relieved arms of Robert Green.

But we very nearly let them back into the game in the 22nd minute. Djourou, who has generally been very good lately, had a brain lapse and sent a terribly soft back pass to Wojo under pressure. Carlton Cole pounced on the ball and had only Wojo to beat. Fortunately, we saw the best of Wojo on the play, as he used his size and aggressiveness to come out right on Cole and prevent him from getting his shot away. But the rebound fell back to West Ham, the ball was put into Zavon Hines, who had the angle exactly right and had Wojo beat, but his shot was just high. It was a huge let-off for Arsenal.

We nearly doubled our lead a couple of times in the ensuing minutes. In the 27th minute, there was a great ball put into the box for van Persie, but he played it back into the middle of the box for an onrushing Alex Song. It was an inch-perfect pass, and Song got a boot through the ball well, but some great last minute defending by Tomkins meant the ball never reached the target.

Then, in the 31st minute, Arsenal broke well, Nasri played a beautiful ball out left to van Persie, who was by his man and through on goal. van Persie took a very good shot at the far post, he had Green beat, but the ball just hit the inside of the far post. Three inches inside and it would have been a goal, we were unlucky to only be up 1-0 after that.

But we did make it 2-0 in the 40th minute. Clichy played a very good ball ahead to van Persie, who got to the byline with some space, and sent it back across the 6-yard box, where Theo had run in and got a foot in to tuck it beautifully into the top of the net from point-blank range. We owe a big assist to Wayne Bridge on that goal — his laziness played van Persie onside, and his failure to get onto van Persie’s ball and sniff out the danger allowed Theo to flare across the goal mouth and score the goal. Thanks, Wayne!

Worryingly, though, we nearly gave a goal back again. Sears sent a perfect cross in for Carlton Cole, who is generally a very good header of the ball. But Cole missed it from as good a position as you can ask for, and it was once again a bit of a let-off from Arsenal. But it was 2-0 Arsenal, into the break, and Arsenal fans were in good spirits, singing “You’re getting sacked in an hour” at Avram Grant.

First Half Stats
Possession: West Ham 33% – Arsenal 67%
Shots (on Goal): West Ham 5(2) – Arsenal 12(7)
Corner Kicks: West Ham 2 – Arsenal 4

It was still pretty back and forth out of the break. We had some chances — van Persie forced Green into conceding a corner with a cannon shot from a poor effort, Theo put a shot wide, van Persie put a hard shot from outside the box over the bar, and we had a couple of other incidents of possession in the West Ham box. van Persie took a good free kick from a dangerous spot and deflected off some West Ham defender’s backside. We didn’t score, but that guy won’t be able to sit down until Wednesday. Nasri was put through on goal, but he was just a fraction offside.

But then West Ham had a couple of chances. They broke on the counter, and Sears either shot or crossed (I think it was actually an errant cross), which floated back in towards the far post and forced Wojo, who was in caught in no man’s land a bit, to push it outside the far post for a corner. The ensuing corner pinged around and took an awkward bounce for Wojo, and he fell as he caught it — and just for a second, it looked like he was going to spill the ball or possibly even fall back over the line himself. But he held it and kept it on the right side of the line, and we kept our lead.

Neither team created much of anything in the way of scoring chances until the 74th minute, when a long ball was sent into to the top corner of the box. Theo and Wayne Bridge were in a foot race to the ball, and Theo got there just first. But Bridge went in for the ball, and in the process, brought down Theo with a front leg. It was a very stupid penalty to concede, because Theo was about as far from the goal as you can get and still be in the box, and running away from the goal. But it was a clear foul, it was in the box, and this isn’t ‘Nam, Smokey, there are rules. Andre Marriner (who had a pretty good game) pointed to the spot, and van Persie stepped up and converted perfectly to make it 3-0, Arsenal.

We very nearly made it 4-0. Nasri made a trademark run into the box and had the ball in great position on his right foot, but Matthew Upson did very well to get his foot in front of it and block it. Just a minute or so after that, Wilshere had the ball in space on the edge of the box and lined up a very good shot, but Robert Green did well to get down and push it around the post. West Ham didn’t create much in the final minutes, and it would end 3-0.

Full-Time Stats
Possession: West Ham 30% – Arsenal 70%
Shots (on Goal): West Ham 9(3) – Arsenal 21(11)
Corner Kicks: West Ham 4 – Arsenal 10

All in all, it was an excellent performance, and washes the bad taste out of our mouths after a pretty abysmal last couple of weeks. The Arsenal that played today really looks like a title-contending team, but the question is whether or not they can play like that week-in, week-out. But it’s a good performance, and puts us just 2 points behind Manchester United. They have 2 games in hand on us at the moment, but if they drop points tomorrow the gap becomes pretty narrow, especially with some of the road matches United has to play the rest of the season. We’re certainly still in this, people.

I think Arsene made a pretty clear statement of intent for Wednesday’s match with his substitutes. Even with Arsenal up 3-0, he didn’t rush to get certain players off. Cesc came off for Denilson in the 81st minute, Nasri came off for Gibbs in the 87th minute, and Theo came off for Arshavin also in the 87th minute. I have to think that if he had really wanted to deploy those players against Leeds, he would have looked to sub them off earlier than that. So I suspect we’ll see a lot of rotation, particularly among our front 6, which may be close to entirely changed on Wednesday. It will be interesting to see if it’s enough.

Next up in the league is hosting Wigan on Saturday. Shouldn’t be too difficult, but then again, it shouldn’t have been too difficult to beat Wigan at Wigan, but we couldn’t do that, so nothing can be taken for granted at this point.

Not too much else to say — no apparent injuries, some great attacking play, and a comfortable, well-deserved victory. It doesn’t get much better than that. Hopefully this momentum can carry over to the FA Cup match on Wednesday, and lead to a good run of matches that put us right back into the title picture.

On to the ratings:

Wojo 7 Had a couple of nervy moments, but bottom line is that he made the plays he needed to make. And the game may have gone very differently if he hadn’t made himself so big when Carlton Cole was put through on goal by Djourou’s terrible backpass.

Clichy 7 Very good match, maybe Gibbs’s emergence is good for Gael. Dealt with West Ham’s attacks down the flank well, and it was his lofted through ball with put van Persie by the defenders to assist on Walcott’s goal. Supported the attack well a couple of other times, as well.

Eboue 6 Looked better than he has recently, but I still felt like it was pretty clear that he was our vulnerable spot, as West Ham got behind him a couple of times, and when he got forward with the attack he didn’t really contribute all that much. But certainly streets ahead of where he was the last few appearances.

Koscielny 6.5 Still struggles with physical portion of game at times, but was aggressive and had perfect timing virtually every time he was called upon to do something. Has adjusted pretty nicely to the Premiership, and may really be hitting his stride.

Djourou 6 Solid performance with the exception of the back pass, which easily could have led to an equalizing goal. Has to show more focus and concentration than that.

Song 7.5 Energetic, and reminded us of how good it can look when he plays his new role well. He never seemed to get caught out of position, yet still contributed to the attack, and very well could have scored a goal had Upson not gotten his foot in at the last second. Is it safe to go back to calling him world-class yet, or should I wait a while?

Wilshere 7.5 Real quality from Jack today — seemed to pop up everywhere in the midfield, and supported the attack extremely well. Very nearly scored against the club he supported as a boy when he forced Green into a good save late. Excellent throughout.

Cesc 7.5 Wasn’t at his very best, but was awfully damn good. Involved in most of Arsenal’s attacking moves, and was distributing the ball both out wide and through the middle. He just adds so much to the side when he’s pulling the strings like he was today.

Nasri 7.5 Good again. His dummy to lead to van Persie’s goal was great, as was his ball out to van Persie when van Persie hit the post. Had a good run and shot which was blocked, and another great run that would have led to a one-on-one was just offside. Dangerous and energetic all match long.

Theo 8.5 Co-Man of the Match. In his 100th Premier League appearance, you couldn’t help but reflect on how much he’s grown as a footballer in that time. Despite what the critics say, that was a very intelligent, assured performance today. One great assist, one great finish for a goal, and another drawn penalty — he was integrally involved in all 3 goals today. Top-class performance from a young man rapidly becoming a player who produces top-class performances on a consistent basis. He now has 9 goals and 4 assists in all competitions this season in 21 appearances. To put that in perspective, he had 6 goals and 5 assists in his previous 63 appearances coming into the season.

van Persie 8.5 Co-Man of the Match. Reminded us of just how great he is. Great at holding up and distributing from deep into West Ham territory. That first class was an incredibly good finish, so much harder than it looked. And his pass for the second goal was top-class as well. Added a well-taken penalty to boot. Was inches away from a hat trick when his well-taken shot in the first-half ricocheted off the post. I almost hesitate to say it — but if he can just stay healthy and keep playing like this, we have a real chance to win the league this year.

Denilson, Arshavin, and Gibbs came on late, but they all came on so late and had so little to do that I can’t really give them any kind of rating.

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Category: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Match Review, Premiership, West Ham