By Sam Tonks
A first West Ham goal for Declan Rice sealed a superb 1-0 win over Arsenal at London Stadium.
Rice’s 48th minute goal keeps West Ham’s unbeaten start to the year going and lifts them up to eighth in the table.
There was rain and bubbles in the air at London Stadium for the first London Derby of the year, Arsenal the visitors.
Samir Nasri started back-to-back games, making his Premier League debut and facing one of his former employers. Marko Arnautovic was leading the line, despite rumours over his future at the club.
Mesut Ozil was left out of the Arsenal squad, which was unchanged from their 4-1 win over Fulham. Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang were partnered in attack posing a mean threat to West Ham’s rear-guard.
Both sides started positively, West Ham were threatening on the counter attack as Arsenal controlled the early stages of possession with their front-three linking up well.
Mark Noble had the first sight of goal on six minutes. A determined drive down the right from Michail Antonio brought him to the edge of the box, Noble interchanged with Nasri but he shot straight at Bernd Leno.
It was on 14 minutes that Arsenal got in behind the Hammers for the first time. Aubameyang turned well on the right wing and found Alex Iwobi. He found Lacazette in the penalty box, his shot was well saved by ex-Arsenal man Lukasz Fabianski.
Arsenal were building pressure on the hosts goal, teenager Matteo Guendouzi nearly found Aubameyang free in the box, before Sead Kolasinac got away down the left but Declan Rice was there to stop Lacazette from scoring.
The best chance of the game arrived on 33 minutes for West Ham. Captain Noble clipped a ball towards Arnautovic, who controlled with ease. He laid it back to Nasri who saw Anderson arriving at speed 20 yards out, set the ball up but the Brazilian’s shot whistled past the post.
Just before half-time, Rice climbed highest to meet an Anderson corner, he just couldn’t direct the header goal-wards, goal-less at the break.
However, the Hammers have proven themselves to be avid second-half scorers. In wins over Cardiff and Palace, they scored three goals in under 20 minutes to start the half, yet Arsenal have only lost once in the league when drawing at the interval.
With just two and a half minutes gone in the second half, West Ham got one, a moment Declan Rice will never forget. A corner came in, the ball fell to Nasri who played it to Rice inside the box and he lashed his shot into the top corner, jubilation at London Stadium.
This nearly lasted less than a minute when Lacazette’s cross ricocheted off Issa Diop, luckily Fabianski was alert to save down low. The Hammers though, were on top as Anderson showed with a mesmerising run down the right flank into the box, unfortunately he couldn’t get a shot away.
Unai Emery reacted with a double substitution, Aaron Ramsey and Lucas Torreira introduced before the hour mark. Then an opportunity came for Arsenal, Kolasinac again getting forward down the left, he crossed to Aubameyang who blazed his left-foot shot over.
The impact of Ramsey was evident, driving Arsenal forward for an equaliser with West Ham back to trying to hit on the counter. Iwobi flashed a shot wide from the left of the box, the game was still in the balance.
As the game headed into the final ten minutes, the action was frantic. Arsenal throwing more forward to equalise whilst West Ham brought on Andy Carroll and Robert Snodgrass to try find a goal to clinch the three points.
The Hammers defence was proving resilient and well organised, Noble and Rice working hard with Issa Diop a stand-out keeping Lacazette and Aubameyang quiet.
Laurent Koscielny headed past Fabianski in stoppage time, but the offside flag was up to deny any points for Arsenal. A great start to the new year continues for West Ham and derby bragging rights to boot, a first win over Arsenal since August 2015.
Next up at London Stadium, Liverpool on the 4th February.
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