Hammers Do It Again At The Emirates

If West Ham United had failed to beat Arsenal at The Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon then, as I mentioned in my preview to this game, they would have had a better chance of claiming points in their home encounter against newly-promoted Leicester City on Thursday night. Well, they go into the game against the Foxes feeling good about themselves after a 1-0 win against the Gunners.

The Hammers had already beaten one of the so-called “big clubs” when they achieved a 2-1 success over Manchester United in Stratford back on 27 October and if they could add Arsenal to the list, it would give them a fourth away victory of the campaign.

Graham Potter made four changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Brentford a week ago, as Jean-Clair Todibo, Aaron Cresswell, Oliver Scarles and James Ward-Prowse all came into the starting line-up to take the places of Konstantinos Mavropanos, Emerson Palmieri and Carlos Soler who all dropped to the bench, while Lucas Paquetá had sustained an ankle injury. Scarles was making his full Premier League debut.

Youngster Luis Guilherme and goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański were also amongst the substitutes.

Declan Rice was named in the starting line-up for the hosts and featured against his former club for the fifth time since leaving Stratford in the summer of 2023.

West Ham had been heavily beaten by Mikel Arteta’s side in the reverse fixture when they were under the stewardship of former Head-Coach Julen Lopetegui at the end of November and were just hoping that they weren’t in for another trouncing here. When referee Craig Pawson got proceedings underway, the Irons were able to control possession, as unusually it took time for the home side to click into gear.

Having said that, they only showed flashes of what they were capable of doing had they been playing to their normal standards.

It wasn’t sustained pressure though and the home fans didn’t see their team force goalkeeper Alphonse Areola into any real saves in the first-half.

Rice created the first opportunity for his team when he sent a dangerous ball across goal but although Mikel Merino got his head to it, he was unable to beat the French stopper.

David Raya was much the busier of the two goalkeepers as both captain Jarrod Bowen, and Tomáš Souček went close for the visitors but neither got the better of the former Blackburn Rovers and Brentford man, while Souček had another go but still couldn’t get his name on the scoresheet.

Arsenal went close again but the away side were really showing their resilience, as they blocked shots from Riccardo Calafiori and Rice. Home skipper Martin Ødegaard would have opened the scoring, had it not been for Todibo’s timely intervention.

The hosts were yet to experience the feeling of a top-flight defeat in North London this season and just before the break, Bowen was on the end of a cross from Aaron Wan-Bissaka and headed the ball past Raya to join teammate Michail Antonio on fifty Premier League goals.

Potter’s men were halfway to doing what they did under former manager David Moyes in the previous campaign. Surely Arteta’s men were wise enough not to suffer the same fate again, or were they?

The home fans were still waiting for their team to come up with something to fire them into action but as the minutes ticked by, it was clear that the majority inside the stadium were becoming increasingly frustrated, given that they were going for the title again.

The East Londoners were fully expecting a backlash from their opponents but uncharacteristically, they continued to struggle, meaning the noise inside the stadium wasn’t up to its usual levels.

Those supporters housed in the away end saw their side keep their shape and prevent Arsenal from finding a route to goal. Leandro Trossard was pressurising the Hammers’ defence but had his shot blocked, while Merino was again off target with his latest attempt.

All connected with West Ham thought that it would only be a matter of time before Arsenal fashioned an equaliser but the away side still harboured hopes of increasing their advantage. They nearly did so too but Cresswell’s cross didn’t reach Bowen and the chance had gone.

On sixty two minutes, Potter called for more experience and sent on Mavropanos for Todibo.

The Claret and Blue Army had not seen their team win an away game since the 1-0 triumph at Southampton on Boxing Day and the confidence was growing here as they were closing in on a huge three points. More attempts came the way of the visitors but thankfully, they stood firm.

Trossard missed twice, as he was firstly thwarted by Areola when the goalkeeper was finally forced into action, before the Belgian made a hash of his effort after meeting a cross from Ethan Nwaneri.

Myles Lewis-Skelly was introduced for Calafiori in the fifty sixth minute and it wasn’t long before his initial card for denying Mohammed Kudus a goalscoring opportunity was upgraded by Pawson from yellow to red.

That gave West Ham a huge boost and although they were unable to add to their advantage, despite the introductions of both Soler and Evan Ferguson, they had everything crossed that they were going to hold on.

With time running out, the North London side were desperate for some sort of result to keep their title challenge on track but there was no way through and Potter, who had previously won three out of his last four encounters here was able to deliver a first away success of 2025 for the club he joined at the start of last month.

That result was an unexpected bonus but a game at home to the Foxes is a different story. Nevertheless, the fans will expect the team to follow this up on Thursday night.