Arsenal made the trip to the London Stadium to face off against West Ham in their Premier League fixture on Monday evening. The Gunners had been struggling for form in recent weeks but so were The Hammers. With that being said, the game ended in a 1-3 win for the visitors, after they went down to a goal in the first half.
Angelo Ogbonna gave the home side the lead from a corner in the 38th minute, with Pablo Fornals claiming the assist. The Gunners looked really weak initially and were being outplayed by the strategy that was employed by Manuel Pellegrini.
However, they turned things around in the second half and earned a hard-fought victory. The first half seemed like an Emery side, while the second reflected more of Ljungberg.
There were times when both the Swede and Per Mertesacker looked worried, as the team failed to create chances. However, the game against The Hammers brought a lot of positives as well for them. With second-half goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the win was sealed by the north London side.
This was their first win in months and the real reason why Emery was sacked. Hopefully, they can continue to shine in the long-run. Here are the talking points of the match-
Poor First-Half For Arsenal
The Gunners were really poor in the first-half and it was quite similar to what Unai Emery was producing during his time at the club. This was not the need of the day, with some tough fixtures coming up. Interim boss Freddie Ljungberg needed a win to get his team going and the game against the Hammers was a crucial one.
Unfortunately for the home side, they were struggling with their own issues. Pellegrini’s side could only score once, after a very cautious start to the game. If they had scored more, things could have been so different for them.
Martinelli- The Inspiration
It was once again the young Brazilian that proved to be an inspiration to the team, which was struggling to score. His goal equalized the score for the north Londoners and they went on to win the match. There is no doubt that the win was much-needed and it proved to be a deciding factor.
Nicolas Pepe Repays His Debt
Finally, Nicolas Pepe managed to do what he had been brought in for. He has been misfiring for so long that all the fans had termed him ‘over-rated’. However, his spectacular goal and assist in this match really made an impact. This was one of the game-changers and finally, Pepe seemed like the player that was seen in Ligue 1 last year.
Lacklustre Aubameyang Finally Gets Back To Form
Since the time it was declared that Aubameyang would not be renewing his contract and leaving the club, he has looked out-of-sorts. With that being said, the Gabon international needed some spark to reignite his form. This was the perfect match to do so and he really made a huge impact on the match. Hopefully, he can continue his form now in the game against Manchester City as well.
