Arsenal 2-0 West Ham: Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe send impressive Gunners into top four

Matt Verri15 December 2021

Arsenal moved above West Ham and into the top four as they secured a deserved 2-0 victory over David Moyes’ side.

Gabriel Martinelli put the Gunners in front shortly after the break, before Vladimir Coufal was shown a second yellow card as he gave away a penalty midway through the second-half.

Alexandre Lacazette saw his penalty saved, but Arsenal made the man advantage count as Emile Smith Rowe came off the bench to seal the win late on, and send the Gunners into the Champions League spots.

There was plenty of intensity from the start from Arsenal, as they looked to win the ball back high up the pitch.

West Ham went closest to opening the lead though. Ben White headed a free-kick out of the six-yard box, and it fell to Pablo Fornals who whipped a curling effort just wide of the far post.

Craig Dawson made a number of superb blocks to keep Arsenal at bay, before Kieran Tierney’s long-range strike was tipped onto the bar by Lukasz Fabianski.

Lacazette had an effort well saved and Martinelli fired the rebound wide from a matter of yards, as Dawson came flying in to close him down.

Arsenal were kept at bay in the first-half, but they took the lead just three minutes into the second period.

Lacazette played it in to Martinelli, who burst past the West Ham defence and sent a lovely curling finish into the far corner.

With 67 minutes on the clock, Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot after Lacazette went down in the box under a challenge from Coufal.

The decision was a slightly harsh one but it stood after a VAR check, and Coufal was shown a second yellow card for the foul. Lacazette stepped up to take the penalty, but he saw his effort saved by Fabianski.

Smith Rowe was introduced by Arteta, and he cut inside before firing a left-footed strike into the corner from the edge of the box to seal the win with just a few minutes remaining.

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