Arsenal’s Fighting Win Over West Ham Showed True Grit

Well I have to say that I didn’t expect Arsenal to take 3 points away from Upton Park this season, especially after Manchester City were beaten there quite competently by our East London neighbours. However we held on despite not playing our usual game, giving a bit of confidence that we might be made of sterner stuff than previously thought.

Possession

Somehow, West Ham managed 57% possession against us this Sunday, despite average less than 50% when looking at all the games previously. I think it shows how much better West Ham have become and how dangerous it is to travel to Upton Park at the current time, and for Arsenal to win with 43% of the possession is truly a great achievement.

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The Top Flight

Arsenal were much quicker in their attacks and it showed that their usage of the ball was probably the most wasteful it has been all season. In fact it’s the second lowest pass completion rate Arsenal have ever achieved in the Premier League, measuring at 69%. Arsenal were keen to get forward as fast as possible as they were unable to sustain a measured attacking approach against a team that looked to close down the ball at every opportunity.

Defence

We expected Arsenal to come under siege aerially due to the attacking threat of Andy Carroll and the quality of West Ham’s set piece and wing play, however despite the hosts putting in 42 crosses they only managed a grand total of 10 chances created and 15 shots on goal.

Arsenal did benefit from West Ham’s wastefulness, highlighted by Tomkins putting the ball over the bar when clean through about 7 yards out, and a 50-50 decision regarding Alex Songs early ‘goal’ when West Ham players were deemed to be offside in front of the goalkeeper’s eyeline.

Despite that Arsenal did also manage 47% of all tackles and 44% of Aerial Duels which, given previous statistics, could have been a whole lot worse. The team also made 20 interceptions and really got back to help when necessary which really pushed the team forward.

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Shooting Chances

Arsenal were not on the front foot for the match but they took their chances. We managed 15 shots on goal but with most of them blocked by a hard-working West Ham defence the fact we did pick up two goals was a testament to our chance creation. Yes one of those was a penalty, a definite penalty, but we still have to get in the correct areas and Cazorla tucked it away beautifully despite holding the pressure that West Ham had put on Arsenal in the game up to that point.

What was good about Arsenal going forward was the speed at the determination with which it was done, both in creating opportunities for themselves as players and also at the willingness to take defenders on at speed when the opportunity presented itself.

All in all I feel it was a solid Arsenal performance that means we can take confidence on the away trip to St Mary’s on New Year’s day and add another 3 points to our league total.

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