22 hours ago
5
Arsenal claimed a valuable victory in their first London derby of many for the month of October as they swept West Ham United aside. The win moved them top of the table in the Premier League at the time.
Bukayo Saka thought he had given Arsenal the lead in the mid-point of the first half, but the offside flag spared the visitors. Rice would then do just that, finishing off a move started by Martin Zubimendi, finding Eberechi Eze, whose shot was saved but only into the path of the former Hammer.
Saka then scored his goal from the penalty spot, sending the French keeper the wrong way. Jurrien Timber was the man to earn the spot kick, although there were some questions about whether the foul took place inside the box.
Here is how football.london rated the performances of the Arsenal players:
David Raya – Had very little to do all game and was mainly responsible for being an eleventh outfield player. Fourth league clean sheet of the season after just seven games. 6
Jurrien Timber – Early chance when laid in by Martin Odegaard, saved by Alphonse Areola. Won the penalty after El Hadji Malick Diouf brought him down in the box. 8
William Saliba – Relatively unchallenged throughout the game but dealt well with any pressure that came his way and distributed the ball solidly. 7
Gabriel Magalhaes – Often was left to marshal the left-hand side on his own as Calafiori drifted into midfield. Dealt with the pressure of the role well as always. 7
Riccardo Calafiori – Thought he had doubled the Gunners’ lead before the break, having been pretty much everywhere all over the field in the first half, he struck from outside the post and onto Alphonse Areola’s post. 7
Declan Rice – Gave the Gunners the lead against his old club, making no mistake from a rebounded shot courtesy of Eze. Brilliant low driven cross to Gyokeres, who couldn’t quite time his lunge to meet it. 8
Martin Odegaard – Played some brilliant early passes that should have led to goals. The first was Jurrien Timber, and the second was through to Bukayo Saka, which eventually ended in a massive Eberechi Eze miss. Came off before half-time for the third home game in a row in the league after a clash of knees. 6
Eberechi Eze – Missed a huge chance as the ball popped out from a goalmouth scramble that he volleyed over the bar. Had the shot, which was parried by Areola into Rice’s path to tap in. 7
Bukayo Saka – Played the pass across the goal leading to Eberechi Eze’s chance, also provided several crosses that Gyokeres couldn’t quite reach. His penalty being scored earned him his 100th league goal contribution on his 200th Premier League appearance. 8
Leandro Trossard – A couple of nice passes and darting movements, but was not as involved as much as he would have liked, but still contributed. 6
Viktor Gyokeres – Was so close to an opener at the start of the second half after very little meaningful moments in the first, Rice sliding the ball across, but the Swede couldn’t stretch to meet it. It was, to put it bluntly, a bit disappointing. 5
Substitutes:
Martin Zubimendi – Came on to replace the injured Martin Odegaard. Great pass through to Eze which led to the opening goal, and ran the game with what felt like a greater level of balance after the reshuffle. 7
Myles Lewis-Skelly – Replacing the marauding Calafiori, the youngster was much more restrained in his positional play than the Italian. 6
Ethan Nwaneri – Replacing Trossard and then moving into the central area, pushing Eze out wide. 6
Mikel Merino – Came on late but didn’t have much impact with the time available. n/a
Gabriel Martinelli – Failed with a cross late on to Viktor Gyokeres. n/a
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