Arsenal 2-0 West Ham: Zubimendi shines as Rice and Saka send Gunners top

Match report – Player ratings – Arteta reaction – Video

Arsenal go into the Interlull top of the Premier League after a 2-0 win over West Ham at home yesterday. Much like the win over Olympiacos in midweek, it felt routine, almost an inevitability which, while not necessarily exciting, does demonstrate the strength of this team.

I was excited when the starting XI dropped with both Martin Odegaard and Eberechi Eze in it. It was the first time the two had started a game together, and I think I was still trying to work out how exactly it was functioning when it ground to an early halt. Before that, the captain had played a great pass to Jurrien Timber who saw his shot saved in the box, while Eze will have had a restless night replaying a close range chance he should have scored but somehow put over the bar.

But on 20 minutes Odegaard’s injury curse continued. He clashed knees with a West Ham played, required treatment, got treatment, immediately went down in the next phase of play, and should probably have come off there and then. I know there’s player guidance when it comes to decisions like this, he was obviously desperate to stay on but even on TV you could see his race was run, and on the half hour mark he was replaced by Martin Zubimendi.

He set an unfortunate record yesterday, the first player to ever be subbed off before half-time in three consecutive home appearances. It’s so unfortunate for him, not least because he produced an exceptional midweek performance in the Champions League. Arteta said afterwards his knee was in a brace and it didn’t look positive, so let’s just keep everything crossed that whatever has happened is more painful than damaging.

In previous games, when Odegaard went off Arteta turned to Ethan Nwaneri, but this time it was Zubimendi, and I think he got it absolutely right. The Spanish international was exceptional in my opinion. We saw him bring control, passing range, and defensive prowess too. He’s a snappy tackler, only Jurrien Timber made more successful tackles yesterday, and we have to look at Zubimendi’s part in both goals.

For the first, he played a lovely pass to Eze in the box, and when his shot was saved Declan Rice was there to apply a well-taken finish on the half-volley. He didn’t celebrate against his old club, but you could see he was given some of them the eyes after receiving some stick when he was taking corners. And it was from a Zubimendi pass that Timber was fouled, leading to the second half penalty.

I’ve seen some discussion of whether this should be a penalty or not because the offence began outside the box, but the laws of the game say ‘If a defender starts holding an attacker outside the penalty area and continues holding inside the penalty area, the referee must award a penalty kick‘, and this seems fairly clear cut to me.

I’ve also seen discussion of whether or not Bukayo Saka should have let Viktor Gyokeres take it. The Swede has now gone six games without a goal, but I’m absolutely fine with Saka stepping up. He has been the designated number 1 penalty taker for some time, even if he does the old switcheroo with Odegaard from time to time. This was his 200th Premier League appearance, and he was going to mark it with a goal. He made no mistake from the spot, that more or less made the game safe, and while I don’t think there was anything pointed at all towards the summer signing, it’s a little reminder for Gyokeres that at this level you’ve gotta deliver.

This was nothing like the Kai Havertz moment when a player under massive scrutiny, and really low on confidence, had yet to score, and the team gave him that chance in a game we were already winning comfortably. This penalty could have been decisive, Saka had the mentality that he was the man, he was going to score, and I’m all for that. Gyokeres did another hard-working job for the team, Arteta certainly sounded pleased afterwards with how he played, and I’m sure the goals will come.

The rest of the game played out as you’d expect. West Ham had little threat, we made more changes, including one which saw Rice ask to be taken off because of a back problem, and I imagine both he and Odegaard will be assessed with regards their international commitments for England and Norway.

Afterwards, having won his 300th game in charge, Arteta said:

The last two games have been very special. Newcastle, because we had a history there, a lot of scars and a lot of lesson to take, we put that right. Then we had West Ham, losing two games at home in the previous two seasons. I told them it was a big opportunity, we’ve had very difficult fixtures since the start of the season, and some very bad injuries as well not helping. Still, the team is performing, playing well, winning today with absolute dominance and without conceding a goal. So, good to get to the international break in this spirit.

I think the last two games have shown Arsenal’s ability to win games without having to really stretch ourselves, and while there’s probably some discussion to be had about how that leaves you closer to the margins than you might like, I also think you can see there’s probably more in the tank if we needed it. Going into the Interlull on top of the table is nice, albeit there’s a long way to go this season.

That said, it was barely a couple of weeks ago that after the Man City game this team was being torn asunder by some of the most vociferous, and to my mind verging on disingenuous, external criticism, and yet here we are. Funny, eh? It does demonstrate how quickly things can change in football. Last weekend there was a plausible scenario where we could have ended up eight points behind Liverpool, and a week later we’re a point ahead. Like I said, a long way to go, but let’s recognise the effort and character that has gone into the last seven days. Three games, three wins, a single goal conceded, and we’re in a nice position where we can go into this international break in a relatively calm way. There’s a lot to be said for that.

Right, I’ll leave it there. We’ll have an Arsecast Extra for you tomorrow, but we’re not recording until the afternoon. For now though, have a great Sunday folks.