I told them,I Will score my first goal against Arsenal but they were doubting me’: Muhammed Kudus respond to Arsenal fans Criticism after netting His first WestHam goal tonight
West Ham dumped Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup with a 3-1 win at London Stadium
Ben White’s early own goal set the tone for a bad night for the Gunners who were further punished before the hour mark by Mohammed Kudus and Jarod Bowen.
While substitute Martin Odegaard reduced the arrears with the final kick of the game, it was a night to forget for Mikel Arteta.
PRE-GAME
Mikel Arteta made six changes from the side that beat Sheffield United at the weekend. As expected Aaron Ramsdale replaced David Raya between the sticks with Gabriel Magalhaes replacing William Saliba in front of him. Despite suggestions he might start against his old club, Declan Rice took up a place on the bench with Jorginho marshalling the midfield alongside Kai Havertz and Fabio Vieira. In attack, Reiss Nelson and Leo Trossard were charged with providing the ammunition for Saturday’s hat-trick hero Eddie Nketiah. Worryingly, there was no place in the squad for Emile Smith Rowe with the manager confirming pre-game that the England international had picked up a knee issue.
FIRST HALF
Arsenal’s best chance of a tepid first half performance came and went inside the opening 10 minutes with Kai Havertz forcing Lukasz Fabianski into a smart save with a flicked header from a Reiss Nelson free-kick. After that we had plenty of the ball but struggled to create clearcut opportunities. In response, West Ham played on the counter-attack and managed to take the lead without having a shot on goal.
16 minutes were on the lock when Jarod Bown whipped a left-foot corner towards Arsenal’s near post where Ben White crashed a header into his own net. The replay showed Aaron Ramsdale was clearly having his shirt pulled by Soucek but with no VAR in play, the calls for a free-kick fell on deaf ears. (GOAL 1-0)
Havertz continued to be heavily involved but things just didn’t come off for the German. He fluffed a half chance as we tried to hit back quickly and then had a couple of loose touches that led to jeers from the home fans. As the half wore on, you could see the confidence draining from him.
Looking to make amends for the own goal, White forced Fabianski into a save with a looping header and from the follow-up corner Nketiah flashed a header of his own just past the post. His reaction told you everything you needed to know – he should have done better.
At the other end, another Bowen corner caused havoc in the Gunners’ box with Ramsdale fighting for the ball at the back post with Soucek. This time a free-kick went our way.
Sensing the Arsenal keeper was feeling jittery on his return to the team, the home support tried to get into Ramsdale’s head whenever he was on the ball but he stuck to his guns by playing out from the back more often than not.
Arteta’s side did have other half-chances before the whistle went. Nelson had a shot blocked after intercepting a pass on the edge of the Hammers box, Havertz bounced a header wide and Nketiah hit over after neat link-up play between Trossard and Zinchenko.
On the bench, Martinelli, Saka and Odegaard looked on passively.
SECOND HALF
West Ham came out of the traps quickly and when Paqueta picked Jorginho’s pocket and fed Bowen he looked odds on to double the home side’s lead. Ramsdale made the save – an untidy one that saw the ball squirm behind him – before White tidied up.
Arsenal didn’t heed the warning. On 50 minutes, a long diagonal found Kudus lurking behind Zinchenko. The Ghanaian took one touch to cut back on himself and then drilled home low on the diagonal. It was a tidy finish but that shouldn’t hide the fact we defended like lemmings. (GOAL 2-0)
Losing duels all over the pitch, it was little surprise to see Arteta send on Declan Rice and Takehiro Tomiyasu for Jorginho and Zinchenko. The Hammers supporters gave their former captain a warm welcome and then had a third goal to celebrate; Bowen controlled a headed clearance by White just outside the box and lashed the ball through Ramsdale via a deflection off Kiwior’s thigh. (GOAL 3-0)
While most Arsenal supporters would have been happy to take the defeat on the chin and move on, Arteta decided it was worth sending on the big guns for the final 30 minutes. Martinelli and Saka replaced Trossard and Nelson but you never sensed a repeat of the Premier League comeback we made in 2021.
While most Arsenal supporters would have been happy to take the defeat on the chin and move on, Arteta decided it was worth sending on the big guns for the final 30 minutes. Martinelli and Saka replaced Trossard and Nelson, and later Odegaard would take over from Nketiah, but you never sensed a repeat of the Premier League comeback we made in 2021.
West Ham were happy to sit back and hit us on the break when they could be bothered. Lucas Paqueta was so sure of the win he even indulged in some outrageous playground showboating that nearly made a fool of Vieira.
Odegaard was lively and had two efforts before netting a decent effort deep into stoppage time. It was a terrible night at the office for the Gunners who need to regroup ahead of Saturday’s tricky trip to Newcastle United.
