Sports
Premier League: West Ham lost to Arsenal Despite Distractions
After beating West Ham 2-0 at the Emirates, Arsenal moved up to fourth in the Premier League table.
Aubameyang had not been selected for the squad for the London derby since he was stripped of the club captaincy over disciplinary issues.
The Gunners were able to overtake Manchester United and the Hammers with two goals from Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe.
A controversial penalty awarded against Vladimir Coufal, which led to Coufal being sent off for a second time, would have left stand-in captain Alexandra Lacazette even able to miss a penalty.
Martinelli produced a fine finish to open the scoring (Picture: Getty Images)
The first half was a slow start, although Arsenal was the better side and offered more of a threat than the visitors.
Before the break, the Gunners had better chances of taking the lead, with Kierney seeing a fierce shot tipped onto the crossbar by Lukasz Fabianski and the Hammers ‘keeper saving twice from Lacazette and Martinelli.
Referee Anthony Taylor probably made the right decision in not awarding Bukayo Saka a penalty in the first half.
Several minutes into the second half, Martinell’s excellent finish gave things a boost.
Lacazette picked up the run of the Brazilian midway into the Hammers half between the right-back and the centre-back.
When Arsenal fans saw him run onto the ball at speed, open up his body and curl the ball into the far bottom corner, they were reminded of Thierry Henry.
Lacazette with the assist, Gabriel Martinelli with the finish 🙌
Perfect placement to give the Gunners the lead vs West Ham! pic.twitter.com/nz2Yy57dti
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) December 15, 2021
As West Ham struggled to make an impact on the game, things got much more difficult when Vladimir Coufal was sent off on 66 minutes.
A Czech player appeared to slide into Lacazette in the penalty area, but despite getting the ball, the referee pointed to the spot and showed him his second yellow card.
The Hammers and Coufal did not leave due to the strong protests, and VAR did nothing to help.
In the end, Fabianski kept the score at 1-0 by diving to his left and saving Lacazette’s effort.
Lacazette saw his spot-kick saved by Fabianski (Picture: Getty Images)
In the 87th minute, Arsenal substitute Emile Smith Rowe sealed the victory for their team.
While West Ham tried to equalize, Arsenal’s youngsters launched a quick counter-attack, with Saka breaking and then feeding Emith Rowe.
On the right flank, the young Englishman cut in and fired in a left-footed finish that left Fabianski standing and sealed the win.
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