EPL: West Ham win derby to stop Arsenal returning to top spot
Arsenal were top at Christmas but this defeat leaves them two points behind leaders Liverpool
West Ham United denied London rivals Arsenal a return to the top of the table as they inflicted on the Gunners a first home defeat of the season, winning 2-0 at Emirates Stadium.
Tomas Soucek put the Hammers ahead in the first half and Konstantinos Mavropanos doubled the lead 10 minutes after the break, heading in against his former club.
Arsenal were top at Christmas but this defeat leaves them two points behind leaders Liverpool.
Meanwhile, West Ham climbed to sixth, four points outside the top four.
Arsenal began sharply, exerting plenty of pressure but, against the run of play, West Ham took the lead on 13 minutes.
Jarrod Bowen pulled the ball back from the byline to Soucek, who finished at close range- VAR review could find no conclusive evidence that the ball had gone out of play before Bowen’s pass.
The Gunners almost equalised five minutes before the break, but Bukayo Saka’s shot hit a post and was scrambled clear by West Ham’s defence.
Early in the second half Declan Rice facing his former side, took a shot from distance which flew narrowly over the crossbar.
But instead it was former Arsenal defender Mavropanos who scored against his old team moments later, rising above Gavriel to power in a header via the crossbar from a James Ward-Prowse corner.
West Ham saw out the closing stages in relative comfort, and Benrahma had a big chance to make it 3-0 in stoppage time from the penalty spot, awarded for a foul by Rice on Emerson Palmieri, but his effort was saved by David Raya.
Story By: Princeton Wiredu
