everyevery.ng west-ham-gunners-1-3
Gabriel Martinelli marked his full Premier League in a very remarkable way for Gunners. The Eighteen-year-old was key to Arsenal’s victory over West Ham. Gabriel Martinelli scored the first goal for the visitors to cancel Angelo Ogbonna’s opener. The London local derby really went well for the visitors as it marks the end of their nine games winless run.
Angelo Ogbonna had the opener with a deflected first-half opener at London Stadium. West Ham United were in charge in the whole first half of the game. They had several scoring chances with Arsenal goalie doing all the saves in the game. Everything was going all well for the home side until in the 60th minute of the game.
In the 60th minute of the game, Arsenal’s teenage player Gabriel Martinelli found the back of the net to equal the score line. Within nine minutes, Nicolas Pepe had curled a magnificent second into the top corner. Skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang led by example as he fired in the third.
The salvo turned the game on its head and piled the pressure on West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini. His side have taken just four points from their past nine league games. They have conceded three times in three successive home games.
The Hammers remain a point above the relegation zone in 16th position. Their next game will be against third-bottom Southampton on Saturday. Arsenal move up two places to ninth
Arsenal’s victory was all the more remarkable because Gabriel Martinelli scored the goal the very time it was needed. The goal is his seventh goal across all competitions this season. They were way out of the game before the goal came.
Club officials had spoken before kick-off about the improved atmosphere triggered by Ljungberg’s appointment as Unai Emery’s replacement but it appeared this game would end in frustration, just as the previous two had done under the Swede.
The visitors were low on confidence and so fans of the visitor kept booing their players. Arsenal supporter could not hold their anger as their side failed to have a shot on target. And seeing that they are already behind curtsey of Ogbonna’s header to put the Ainsley Maitland-Niles ahaed.
True, they did not have much luck. Hector Bellerin was injured in the warm-up and when Kieran Tierney was helped off in obvious pain with a shoulder injury sustained in a seemingly innocuous tangle with Michail Antonio, Ljungberg had lost both his first-choice full-backs in the space of half an hour.
Nevertheless, it was pitiful stuff and when Aubameyang surged down the right wing and sent over a cross that flew over everyone and straight out for a throw-in on the other side of the pitch, it was symptomatic of a club apparently heading nowhere fast.
The last time Gunners failed to win nine matches plus was in 1977. Then, Arsenal played ten matches straight without a win. With an away Europa League game against Standard Liege they look ready to roll. Emirate Stadium will host Manchester City to come on Sunday. At the interval it was not beyond the realms of possibility that the 12-game barren sequence from 1974 was going to be threatened.
The Gunners team paraded one of the most inexperienced in yesterday’s game. Alexandre Lacazette and David Luiz were all in the bench. It was two of Arsenal’s most inexperienced players who sparked the change in fortune.
Ljungberg had obviously seen enough of Gabriel Martinelli in two substitute appearances to trust the Brazilian with his first league start. The reward was a nerveless finish when his side needed it most. Sead Kolasinac provided the cross but there was still a lot to do for the Brazilian, who initiated the victory.
Emery paid a club record £72m for Pepe in August. With one league goal all season, the Frenchman has not really lived up to expectations. His goal last night really proved his worth. A curling shot into the right-hand corner beyond the reach of David Martin. It was really an execution.
Aubameyang sealed the victory with a welled volleyed ball into the net. The clinical finish took his team from the 13th position to the 11th position. He is now joint second-leading goal scorer in the 20219/20 EPL season. After the final whistle was blown, Ljungberg ran to applaud the visiting fans, knowing he had given his own chances of replacing Emery. The victory has sure give him a significant boost.
West Ham United were able to beat fourth place Chelsea by a goal to nil nine days ago. The visiting fans were not patient enough to watch their player come very behind to win the Monday night football. Seats were left empty and the ones left could not stop booing the players. So a win for the Gunnars coach is a big plus for him.
West Ham United, on the other hand, are drifting close to the relegation zone. And one things Pellegrini will not want to. If Pellegrini loses the next game which is against Southampton on Saturday his sack will be very close. This was the third home game running in which they had conceded three goals.
The Hammers were not particularly convincing when they were in front. Once they lost the advantage, the lack of confidence so clear in Arsenal’s play transferred to theirs. Record signing Sebastien Haller was left on the bench and even when he was introduced 20 minutes from time, he made no noticeable impact.
“The players have belief and tried to move the ball with more tempo. West Ham got tired. “The players ran their socks off and fought. I believe in them. When I could see them put their shift in, I could see the quality. I thought ‘it is here for the taking’.
“Martinelli did amazingly. He is like a Duracell battery, he keeps going. Laca [Alexandre Lacazette] is a tremendous player but I had to make a tough decision.”
“For 60 minutes there was just one team on the pitch. But football can be like this. “We made mistakes in moments of defending. The problem was a lack of patience and quality to decide the game with a second goal and we made important mistakes in defence.
“The pressure for me is exactly the same if we win or lose. When you don’t have results things are more difficult. If I had not seen the team play the way they did in the first 65 minutes, I might have doubt
“After Southampton at the weekend we have a break. We must try to recover as quickly as we can and we must try to win those three points.”