Arsenal’s title hopes took a hit after they played a 2-2 draw against West Ham United in their Premier League (PL) match at the London Stadium on Sunday.
The current table-toppers started off explosively, with Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard putting the Gunners at the advantage 10 minutes into the match. But Mikel Arteta’s side could not hold on to their advantage. Gabriel started off the game by heading a cross from Gabriel Martinelli. Odegaard, Partey, Saka and Ben White all delivered some intricate play, helping out Jesus score the opener in the seventh minute. Three minutes later, Martinelli swished the ball to Odegaard at the back post, leaving the skipper in a comfortable position to slam the ball past Lukasz Fabianski. The scoreline read 2-0 in just 10 minutes in the favour of Arsenal.
Arsenal conceded a goal in the first half when Said Benrahma converted a penalty. The Gunners invited their opponents back into the game after Gabriel Magalhaes brought Lucas Paqueta down in the box and the referee gave a penalty to West Ham, which Benrahma converted gleefully. The scoreline was 2-1 in 33 minutes.
At the end of half-time, the scoreline read 2-1 in favour of Arsenal.
After the resumption of action, both sides started off strongly and the visitors looked for a third goal. Martinelli’s shot hit Antonio’s arm inside the box and Arsenal got a penalty.
But Bukayo Saka, who had converted all his four penalties in Premier League so far, missed this kick.
The visitors realised the magnitude of the big opportunity that they had missed when Thilo Kehrer lifted a long ball over Gabriel’s head and Jarred Bowen was there to slam the ball past Aaron Ramsdale in the 54th minute, bringing the scores level at 2-2.
In the end, Jesus came close to earning the lead back for Gunners but failed to connect with Kieran Tierney’s cross. Even Saka, who tried to make up for the missed penalty, saw his shot fall short of a goal as it went into the hands of Fabianski.
