Arsenal climbed above West Ham and edged closer to the top four in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at Upton Park. Santi Cazorla's penalty, after being fouled by Winston Reid in the 41st minute, and Danny Welbeck's strike three minutes later, proved decisive for Arsene Wenger's side who go fifth, two points clear of West Ham in sixth.
Cheikhou Kouyate's header nine minutes after the break pulled one back for West Ham and they put heavy pressure on the Gunners late on, but the visitors withstood the onslaught and held on for maximum points.
West Ham came into the fixture having won 6 of their last 7 league matches on home soil, and looked set to continue that impressive form when Alex Song found the net after five minutes.
The midfielder, named captain as Sam Allardyce made changes to his team, lashed home from 25 yards when the ball fell to him from a corner. Unfortunately for the Cameroon international the the effort was ruled out after the linesman deemed Diafra Sakho to be in an offside position.
Arsenal raced into a 2-0 lead before the break, but West Ham came back into the game and will feel they deserved something from the game having managed 58% possession, 287 successful passes to Arsenal's 197 and far more territorial dominance in the final third. Ultimately, however, it's goals that win games as the old saying goes, and Arsenal's two lifts them yet further up the table.
- Courtesy of Santi Cazorla’s spot-kick, this was the first time Arsenal scored first against West Ham in the Premier League since January 2011 (3-0).
- The Gunners have only failed to score in 1 of their last 12 Premier League away matches.
- Santi Cazorla has now equalled his Premier League tally from the whole of last season (4 goals).
- Arsenal have scored in the first-half in each of their last 4 Premier League games after failing to net a goal in the first 45 in the previous 6.
- Cheikhou Kouyaté’s goal was his first for West Ham, and came after 1214 minutes of Premier League action for the midfielder.
- The Gunners have shipped 9 headed goals this season, a haul only Burnley (10) can better.
- Arsenal have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 5 games.
- West Ham have won 0 of the last 13 Premier League games against Arsenal (W0 D2 L11), losing the last 8 in a row.
- Arsenal have won away at West Ham more often than any other team in Premier League history (11).
- Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain notched his first assist of the season and his first in his last 24 league appearances (his last assist came in March 2014).
Analyse West Ham 1-2 Arsenal using Stats Zone
