Right, we’re all done here, then! All that remains is for me to point you in the direction of our man Jacob Steinberg’s match report, and to remind you that there’s some hot 3pm action going on in Rob Smyth’s Clockwatch. Enjoy, enjoy!
Declan Rice, still only 19, was both star man and match-winner as the Hammers deservedly saw off the Gunners.
Updated
Sat 12 Jan 2019 09.59 EST
First published on Sat 12 Jan 2019 06.30 EST
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And now here’s Unai Emery’s take. “It is a bad result for us. In 90 minutes we maybe didn’t deserve it. We had chances, but we did not control the game like we want. Our reaction after the goal was not efficient, we did not impose our gameplan. We lost a big opportunity to get closer to Chelsea in the table. At home we are feeling good but away we are not getting results like we want. We must do more. We need to continue working and gain confidence. The club is working on transfers but I am happy with the players.”
Now a rather more calm and considered take from their manager Manuel Pellegrini. “I was pleased with the consistency of the team. We didn’t allow Arsenal to create chances, they have so many good players in attack. We played with the mentality of a big team, we tried to score a second goal. I am happy for them. We have to try to work and play in the same way all the time, against big teams and small teams. Declan Rice is improving, he plays a lot of balls in front and not back. In the future he will be a top, top player. Samir Nasri was very good, his pass for Declan was very good. He could continue but I didn’t want to take the risk. If he wants to be the player he was a few years ago, he can do it. We will see what happens with Marko Arnautovic in the next couple of days, and will take the best decision for everyone.”
West Ham captain Mark Noble is told that West Ham have just beaten Arsenal at home for the first time in 13 years. “Is it really? I didn’t know it was that long. It was hard work, I thought we played brilliantly in the first half, and we started on the front foot in the second half. I’m buzzing for this young man here, to score his first goal. We’ve been on at him in training! He should have scored in the first half from a header, but his finish was fantastic. You could see the joy on his face, how much it meant to him. It’s been a really special six months for Declan. I’d be surprised if he sleeps tonight, really surprised!”
Young Declan is standing next to his captain with a grin as wide as the Thames. “I can’t put it into words. The lads are always on to me to shoot. I thought about picking a pass, but I was in the box and thought why not? Take it on! It’s gone in the top corner, and we’ve beat Arsenal, it’s a special moment! To be fair recently, I’ve been getting myself into the box more recently, and I missed that header before half time. I was gutted with that, but managed to get the only goal of the game. I don’t think I want to be 20 now!”
That was a glorious interview. Rice could hardly get the words out, he was smiling so broadly. It was wonderfully infectious; I defy anyone, even Arsenal fans wallowing in the misery of defeat, not to grin like a loon themselves while watching that. Such a sweet moment, and one that Rice will remember forever. Factoring in his birthday on Monday, I suspect he’ll stop smiling around Wednesday or Thursday afternoon.
Rice won’t be 20 years of age until next week. He really does look the part already, though. And here he celebrates with a wide smile playing across his face, after a match-winning performance against Arsenal. There aren’t too many West Ham players who have enjoyed one of those in the last decade. The win moves West Ham up into eighth spot, on 31 points, while Arsenal remain stuck in fifth on 41, now within reach of revived hunters Manchester United. The rest of this weekend’s Premier League card promises to be very fascinating indeed.
FULL TIME: West Ham United 1-0 Arsenal
This Declan Rice, eh?
90 min +3: West Ham hearts are in mouths as Kolasinac bursts down the left and crosses for Koscielny, who plants a diving header into the bottom right! But Kolasinac was well offside, and the flag goes up.
90 min +2: Arsenal have scored in each of their last 20 Premier League matches. Is this fine run over?
90 min +1: The first of three added minutes. Iwobi reaches the byline on the left and pulls one back. Rice - the man of the match - slices wildly behind for a corner. Torreira loops the set piece straight down Fabianski’s throat.
90 min: Anderson romps down the left. He’s got Snodgrass completely unmarked in the middle, but doesn’t spot him and passes to the nearby Noble instead. There goes a fine chance to wrap this up.
88 min: Noble slips a pass down the right for Snodgrass, who looks for Carroll in the centre. Carroll can’t get on the end of the cross, caught in two minds between a header and a spectacular overhead kick. “It’s almost as if Arsenal seem stumped and could really use the sort of tricky player able to create a bit of magic,” observes Matthew Schofield. “Shame they don’t have one on the bench.”
87 min: It’s beginning to look that way, as Carroll embarks on a dribble, Anderson bursts down the left, and Rice conducts a little triangular keepball. This is impressive game management.
85 min: West Ham knock it around the back awhile. They’re in control of this match; can they see out their 50th Premier League game at the London Stadium?
83 min: Arsenal walk the ball in the goal, 2002 style, Ramsey chipping the ball down the left to release Kolasinac, who rolls a cross for Aubameyang to tap in. But Kolasinac was a mile offside, play having stopped long before the net rippled.
82 min: West Ham make a final, defensively minded change, replacing Antonio with Obiang.
81 min: Arsenal’s passes aren’t sticking. On the touchline, Emery cuts a frustrated figure.
79 min: Arsenal keep hold of the ball, but fail to do a great deal with it. West Ham look fairly comfortable at the moment.
77 min: Ramsey, out on the right, hooks a cross into the West Ham box that’s easy for Fabianski to collect. He shakes his head in frustration, as Arsenal continue to toil.
75 min: Snodgrass makes ground down the left, and his cross to the far post very nearly finds Antonio. Koscielny does well to eyebrow the ball away from danger. Both West Ham subs already in the thick of the action.
74 min: Carroll is already giving Sokratis something to think about. His mere presence panics the Arsenal defender into dragging him down by the shirt on the halfway line.
72 min: Ramsey’s corner arcs straight out of play. Not worth waiting for.
71 min: Before it can be taken, Nasri is replaced by Snodgrass, while Arnautovic makes way for Carroll. As he departs, he spins through 360 degrees and ostentatiously applauds. A goodbye to the fans?
70 min: Kolasinac slips one down the left wing for Ramsey, who wins a corner.
69 min: Bellerin comes on for Maitland-Niles.
68 min: Guendouzi has another long-distance effort. This one is well gathered by Fabianski.
67 min: Arsenal are beginning to create chances. Ramsey flicks a pass to Iwobi down the left. Iwobi arrives in the area and zips a fine shot across Fabianski and inches wide of the right-hand post. Not sure the keeper had that covered.
65 min: And now Aubameyang spurns another chance, as Kolasinac crosses low from the left and releases the striker into the box. He’s one on one with Fabianski, but faced with a slight angle on the left, hesitates, allows Cresswell to slide across him, and blasts wildly over the bar.
63 min: Maitland-Niles robs Anderson near the right-hand corner flag, and tees up Ramsey to the side of the West Ham box. Ramsey drops a shoulder, makes for the byline, and dinks one to the far stick, where Aubameyang heads over from close range. Chance.
62 min: The resulting free kick isn’t up to much. A moment for Arsenal to regroup.
60 min: Antonio threatens to burst down the right wing. Kolasinac comes across in the agricultural style and hacks him down. A no-brainer of a booking, and Arsenal’s left back would do well to simmer down.
59 min: A double change by Arsenal, who hook Xhaka and Mustafi and replace them with Torreira and Ramsey.
58 min: Felipe Anderson’s free kick-cum-corner finds the head of Ogbonna, who flashes wide left of the goal.
57 min: Felipe Anderson wins yet another corner for West Ham with an entertaining dribble. Nothing much comes of it, but then Noble holds up the ball near the flag. Aubameyang clatters into the back of him, conceding a free kick right by the corner. Before it can be taken, Kolasinac gets up in the linesman’s grille, and is lucky to escape censure.
56 min: West Ham’s sixth corner of the game, out on the right. Felipe Anderson takes. Antonio attempts a mid-air pirouette and flick at the near post. Leno gathers easily.
54 min: Guendouzi latches onto a very poor Antonio pass and looks for the bottom-left corner from 25 yards. It’s not far wide, but Fabianski always had that covered. “Arise Sir Declan Moore!” chirps Brian Withington. “Is it too soon/heretical to detect more than a passing resemblance between Declan Rice and a young Robert Moore? Their tackling and interceptions similarly effortless too. Please God/Gareth let him pick England.”
52 min: Only Fulham (28) and Bournemouth (23) have conceded more goals away from home this season than Arsenal’s 22. Imagine what bother they’d be in if they started letting them in from corners as well.
50 min: The joy on Rice’s face was something to behold there. That really meant something. And what a fine finish, calmly dispatched into the top corner. Arsenal respond well. First Lacazette drives down the left, and there’s a bit of pinball before Fabianski gathers. Then Aubameyang wins Arsenal’s first corner of the afternoon down the right; Xhaka’s set piece bounces straight through the box and out for a goal kick.
GOAL! West Ham United 1-0 Arsenal (Rice 48)
Anderson comes straight back at Arsenal with a scamper down the right. He reaches the byline and tugs the ball back. Xhaka’s attempted clearance is no good. Nasri intercepts and tees up Rice, who pearls his first goal for West Ham United into the top right! He wheels away in sheer delight! What a moment for the young man!
47 min: Cresswell’s delivery is headed over his own bar by Kolasinac. Yet another West Ham corner, out on the right. Anderson doesn’t beat the first man. Arsenal half clear. But ...
46 min: Some loose control from Guendouzi gifts Anderson a run down the left. Mustafi slides across and nearly gets the ball, but nicks the man instead. That’s the game’s first booking, and a free kick in a very dangerous position near the Arsenal area.
Arsenal get the second half underway. No half-time substitutions. “Honoured to make it into the MBM,” writes Zubin Mistry, the good doctor of 41 min fame. “But I didn’t mean to invoke the ‘Dr’. Damn you, email signature. Unless, of course, that’s why I made the cut and I can finally persuade my family that doing a PhD in medieval history really was worth it (beyond somehow jamming an academic job that means I’m at work on Saturday following the MBM instead of watching the game live).”
Half-time reading. Arsenal’s men won’t be winning the title this season. But their women might.
HALF TIME: West Ham United 0-0 Arsenal
It hasn’t been a classic, but both sides have had their chances. However it remains goalless in this London derby. Look on the bright side: it’s perfectly poised for a great second half. Stay tuned!
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45 min: Another corner for West Ham down the right. Rice flashes a header wide left from six yards. Arsenal’s proud record, and Gary Naylor’s first draft, should be in tatters. But both remain intact.
43 min: Arsenal hog possession, but don’t really go anywhere. Maitland-Niles briefly threatens to burst down the right, but that’s it. The atmosphere is a bit flat now, this game having never quite sparked into life.
41 min: Zabaleta romps forward and slips a ball wide right for Antonio, who has three men in the middle to find. But instead of crossing, he opts for a spectacular curler towards the top left. Nope! “I’d quibble with your fate-tempting reference to Arsenal’s record on corners this season,” writes Dr Zubin Mistry. “We’ve definitely looked defensively vulnerable from our own corners this season, and I’m sure we’ve conceded a few on quick breaks from them. Worth a mention in the chapter on playing against Arsenal in that tactics textbook Gary Naylor is re-writing.”
39 min: Nasri really didn’t do an awful lot there. It looks as though Gendouzi hurt his shoulder as he fell awkwardly. A sore one, but he looks good to continue.
37 min: Guendouzi is brought down by Nasri as he plays the ball out of defence. There wasn’t much in that, but the Arsenal man’s not getting up quickly.