West Ham United played hosts to Arsenal at the London Stadium earlier tonight hoping to pick up a win in front of their home supporters. The Hammers were slightly the better team in the first half, and they managed to grab the lead in the 38th minute via Angelo Ogbonna’s header. The Gunners looked lacklustre in the opening 45 minutes and went into the half-time break with a goal down.
Freddie Ljungberg’s players came out with a point to prove in the second half and scored the equaliser via Gabriel Martinelli’s goal at the hour mark. Nicolas Pepe gave Arsenal the lead just six minutes later with his curling effort. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made the points secure in the 69th minute when he found the back of the net from close range.
The match ended with Manuel Pellegrini’s men suffering a second-half meltdown as they lost the London derby with a 3-1 scoreline.
Let’s take a look at how each West Ham player fared during the clash versus the Gunners.
GK: David Martin – 6/10
The Hammers goalie hardly had anything to do in the first 45. However, he ended up shipping in three goals in nine second-half minutes, much to the shock of the home supporters.
RB: Ryan Fredericks – 5/10
He failed to affect the match going forward but had a good game defensively. Fredericks lacked the hunger to get to the by-line and did not provide enough support to Snodgrass in the opposition half.
CB: Fabián Balbuena – 5/10
The West Ham centre-half was hardly troubled in the first half but completely capitulated defensively in the second.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 6/10
The Italian defensive ace managed to give his team the lead when he scored with his deflected header seven minutes before half-time. He had a forgetful second half like most of his teammates.
LB: Aaron Cresswell – 6/10
He put in a tireless shift down the left flank but suffered an injury and had to subbed off early in the second half.
RM: Robert Snodgrass – 4/10
He gave away a few cheap fouls in the first half and couldn’t really influence the game in the final third. Pellegrini finally decided to replace Snodgrass in the 78th minute after a lacklustre showing during the game.
CM: Mark Noble – 5/10
Not the best game from the West Ham midfield veteran as he struggled to cope with the Arsenal attacks after the half-time break. The Hammers skipper also lacked creativity with his ball-distribution.
CM: Declan Rice – 5/10
The English prospect was at fault in the lead-up to the Gunners equaliser as he was caught ball-watching and got exposed by Martinelli at the back. He tried to do too many things and ended up doing very little.
LM: Pablo Fornals – 5/10
He made a bright start to the game and delivered a dangerous cross in the lead-up to Ogbonna’s opener in the first half. However, he struggled to get into the game after the half-time break.
CAM: Felipe Anderson – 3/10
Probably one of his worst performances in a West Ham shirt. The Brazilian playmaker completely went missing during the 70 minutes he was on the field.
ST: Michail Antonio – 5/10
He squandered two decent goal-scoring opportunities in the first half but struggled to get going in the second.
Substitutes:
LB: Arthur Masuaku – 3.5/10
The Hammers full-back was at fault for allowing Nicolas Pepe too much time and space in the lead-up to Arsenal’s second goal.
ST: Sebastien Haller – 4/10
He didn’t show enough hunger to drag West Ham back in the contest.
RM: Nathan Holland – 5/10
The English youngster got some valuable first-team minutes under his belt.
