Arsenal missed the chance to cut Liverpool's lead at the Premier League summit as West Ham United won 1-0 to end the Gunners' 15-match unbeaten run and inflict their first home defeat of the season.
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Following Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on Wednesday, Mikel Arteta's team had the opportunity to go five points behind Arne Slot's side, who visit Manchester City on Sunday.
However, Arsenal struggled to carve out chances against a well-drilled West Ham defence at Emirates Stadium and were punished when Jarrod Bowen nodded Aaron Wan-Bissaka's cross home just before half-time.
Deprived of attacking options, Arsenal’s hopes were dented further when substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off in the 73rd minute.
Ben White went close to a last-gasp equaliser, but West Ham held on.
They stay 16th, 13 points clear of the relegation zone, while Arsenal could find themselves 11 points behind Liverpool by the end of the weekend.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
26 | +36 | 61 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
26 | +28 | 53 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
25 | +12 | 47 |
| 4 |
Man City
MCI
|
25 | +17 | 44 |
| 5 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
26 | +14 | 43 |
How the match unfolded
West Ham frustrated Arsenal throughout the first half, with Mikel Merino, starting up front, prodding wide when presented with the Gunners' best chance of the first 45 minutes. At the other end, Tomas Soucek twice headed over from near the penalty spot either side of Bowen sending a rushed effort trickling wide.
But Arsenal failed to heed those warnings and fell behind in the 44th minute. Wan-Bissaka burst forward to cross for the unmarked Bowen to nod in.
Bowen was inches away from turning Aaron Cresswell's cross home as West Ham continued to threaten after the break, before Leandro Trossard finally worked Alphonse Areola with a low drive.
But Arsenal's hopes of a comeback suffered a massive blow when Lewis-Skelly lost possession to Mohammed Kudus and immediately chopped him down, with referee Craig Pawson upgrading the punishment from a yellow card to a red after a VAR review.
A wayward stoppage-time shot from White was the closest Arsenal came to an equaliser, as they handed Liverpool the initiative at the top.
Gunners fire costly blank
Much of the talk before this game centred on Arsenal's selection dilemma up front. Having lost Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus to injury, Arteta deployed Merino as a makeshift striker from the bench at Leicester City last week and was rewarded with a match-winning brace from the Spain international.
Merino – who said he had not played as a striker since he was eight years old – was handed that role from the off on Saturday, but he failed to show the same clinical instinct. His first major involvement came when he was found by Thomas Partey at the far post, but where a natural front man might have gone with his head, the midfielder sent an awkward volley wide on the stretch.
After that half-chance, Merino was starved of service as West Ham set up a wall of black shirts on the edge of their area, with Arsenal's attempts to pick the lock growing increasingly desperate.
When Bowen started the counter-attack that culminated in his 44th-minute goal, all 10 Arsenal outfielders were within 30 yards of Areola's goal, giving West Ham acres of space to exploit on the break.
The second half followed a similar pattern, and a misstep from Lewis-Skelly proved costly. The 18-year-old had a red card against Wolverhampton Wanderers rescinded last month, but he could have no complaints here following his last-man foul.
Arsenal now need a huge favour from Man City on Sunday, before they face a tricky trip to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
Potter works his magic
Graham Potter's first league game in charge of West Ham ended in a 3-2 victory over Fulham in mid-January, but a return of one point from their next four games had dampened any enthusiasm at the London Stadium.
Potter responded to last week's 1-0 defeat to Brentford by making four changes to his starting line-up, including the introduction of 19-year-old Ollie Scarles for his first Premier League start.
West Ham also switched to a 3-5-2 system, a change which proved inspired as the well-drilled visitors denied Arsenal any space in central areas.
Arsenal left-back Riccardo Calafiori looked to provide the Gunners with an extra body in attack, but the space he left in behind was ruthlessly exploited by Wan-Bissaka, who motored down the right before supplying a pinpoint cross for Bowen to score.
The fact that Arsenal needed 62 minutes to force a meaningful save from Areola was testament to West Ham's outstanding defensive organisation.
Potter earned a reputation for preaching an attractive style of front-foot football while in charge of Brighton & Hove Albion, but this victory displayed his adaptability, as the Hammers dug in for their first clean sheet of 2025.
Club reports
Arsenal report | West Ham report
What the managers said
Mikel Arteta: "It's very painful. First of all, I congratulate West Ham for the victory. From our side, I'm very disappointed. For big parts of the game, our performance level was nowhere near what we needed to beat them. Obviously, there were a lot of factors during the game that made it even more difficult. Even with 10 men, we tried, we put in a lot of energy, but we lacked a lot of precision and a lot of quality. We have to be very disappointed with what happened today and especially how it happened but there's a long way, there are still 12 games to go. There's a lot to play for, we're still in February, and what happened today can happen to any team. All we can control is what we do."
Graham Potter: "It's a massive three points for us. It was a really committed performance, I thought the players were amazing and stuck to our task really well. They were tactically disciplined. The players, while not being perfect, were close to it in terms of their efforts, their intentions and their understanding of what we're trying to do. I'm delighted for them and the supporters because it's a big win for us."
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Key facts
West Ham have won consecutive away league games against Arsenal for the first time since 2005/06 and 2006/07, when they were the last side to beat the Gunners at Highbury, and the first to defeat them at Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly was sent off for the second time in the Premier League, though his first was eventually overturned. He’s the third teenager to be sent off twice in the competition, after Richard Dunne and Steven Taylor, and the first to do so before turning 19.
Arsenal’s defeat ended their 15-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, while it was also the first time they’ve lost a Saturday 3pm game in the competition since April 2022 against Southampton (W14 D3 before today).
All four of West Ham’s Premier League wins at the Emirates Stadium have been Arsenal’s first home league defeat in that particular campaign (2006/07, 2015/16, 2023/24 and 2024/25).
Jarrod Bowen is just the second player to reach the milestone of 50 Premier League goals for West Ham after Michail Antonio (68).
