Arsenal continue revival by mixing rough with smooth

West Ham United 1
Arsenal 2

Arsenal may be patched up and make-shift, a team depleted by injuries to key personnel and playing catch-up with the title race a distant aspiration, but they are summoning momentum in amongst the chasing pack.

This was a rugged win achieved against a West Ham United team who have grown accustomed this season to prospering on home territory. Arsène Wenger’s side are out of the top four only on goal difference and travel to Southampton, the side immediately above them, on New Year’s Day.

They will venture south bolstered by seven wins in nine games in all competitions, a revival that has almost gone unnoticed with focus drawn to the defeat at Stoke and draw at Liverpool amongst that sequence of successes.

Early lead

West Ham should have forged a lead early on but Alex Song’s volley was disallowed with home players offside in Wojciech Szczesny’s eye-line. James Tomkins, more critically, volleyed over the bar from Stewart Downing’s cleverly clipped centre. That was a key miss. In the few minutes which remained before the break, composure drained away and their challenge appeared to collapse.

That frantic period threatened to have decided the contest. Santi Cazorla’s dart into the penalty area provoked the initial panic, Winston Reid losing his footing but lifting his leg to trip the Spaniard and concede a penalty. Cazorla converted that with glee and, with West Ham players still incensed and distracted, Arsenal sensed further reward.

Close range

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain burst to the by-line and fizzed a centre through Reid's legs and into the six-yard box where Tomkins was dawdling. Danny Welbeck slid in to score from close range at the defender's back.

Wenger’s team could aspire to sitting deeper thereafter in the hope they might prosper further on the counter, the onus thrust on to the home side to muster a response.

Yet the visitors never suggested defensive surety. Per Mertesacker did well to deflect Andy Carroll’s header over the bar as the striker dived to meet Diafra Sakho’s cross but, from the flurry of corners which ensued, Arsenal failed to clear their lines. Tomkins barged beyond Cazorla to clip over a centre which Cheikhou Kouyaté, leaping above Mathieu Debuchy, nodded via a deflection beyond a static Szczesny.

The goal suggested another twist to come but, while West Ham were frantic in their pursuit of parity, the flurry of presentable opportunities were Arsenal’s. Both Cazorla and Debuchy might have reestablished the two-goal lead, with Welbeck’s pace getting him through. The striker’s finish was blazed high and wide, but it did not prove costly.

Guardian Service

WEST HAM: Adrian, O'Brien (Demel 78), Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell, Song, Amalfitano, Kouyate (Nolan 78), Downing, Sakho (Valencia 62), Carroll. Subs Not Used: Noble, Collins, Jaaskelainen, Cole. Booked: Carroll, Tomkins, Reid. Goals: Kouyate 54.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Flamini, Oxlade-Chamberlain (Chambers 90), Cazorla, Welbeck (Gibbs 85), Sanchez. Subs Not Used: Podolski, Ospina, Walcott, Campbell, Akpom. Booked: Sanchez, Debuchy, Coquelin. Goals: Cazorla 41 pen, Welbeck 44.

Att: 34,977

Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)