Arsenal Lose Control Of Title Race, Draw 2-2 With West Ham
- Fall guy Bukayo Saka misses penalty
- Partey, Magalhaes are biggest flops
For the second successive game, English Premiership Leaders, Arsenal dropped points on the road as they let an early lead slip away at the London Stadium against a resurgent West Ham United.
Dropping two points from being 2-0 up when you’re in a tight title race once is careless, but doing it twice in the space of seven days is downright reckless, and the Gunners will be wondering just how to lift themselves now after being held to a draw by the Hammers.
For the Manager Mikel Arteta, questions are already being asked of his team’s mentality after throwing away another two-goal lead and a change of shape after substitutions greatly hurt his team rather than helped it.
As they did at Liverpool last time out, the Gunners came out of the blocks quickly, and were two goals up inside 10 minutes after close-range finishes from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard.
In a match where Gunners struggled to make much of an impact after Coach Arteta made some changes in personnel, costly errors from Thomas Partey and Gabriel Magalhaes, led to West Ham winning a penalty, and once Said Benrahma converted from 12 yards, the momentum turned against the visitors.
Regrettably, the Gunners did spurn the chance to go 3-1 up when Bukayo Saka fired wide from the penalty spot early in the second half, and just moments later they were pegged back when Jarrod Bowen volleyed in from the edge of the box.
With the result, Arsenal are now just four points clear of Manchester City, who have a game in hand, and Pep Guardiola’s men know that winning the remainder of their matches will assure them of a fifth league title in six seasons.
