Darren Bent slams Lukasz Fabianski error as West Ham United throw away lead at Arsenal
Lukasz Fabianski was “awful” as he conceded Gabriel Martinelli’s goal on the way to West Ham losing at Arsenal, according to Darren Bent.
The Hammers were holding out against the Premier League leaders, and went ahead from the penalty spot in the first half as Said Benrahma converted when Jarrod Bowen was brought down.
But after Bukayo Saka took advantage of a large slice of luck to equalise, the game quickly slipped away when the Irons keeper let Gabriel Martinelli score at the near post to give the home side a lead they never relinquished on the way to a 3-1 victory.
Posting on his personal Twitter account after the goal Gunners fan Bent wrote: “Awful goalkeeping but you’ll take it. Lovely stuff Martinelli.”
Give away
It was always going to be a tall task to go to the Emirates and come away with anything given the form that Mikel Arteta’s team have been in this season.
The players were doing just about enough for the first half, despite a couple of anonymous performances, as crucial last-ditch blocks and interceptions saw them take a single goal lead into the break.
Even Bowen’s penalty win was marginal but there was enough contact from William Saliba to knock him off balance, and that meant an opportunity to spring a shock.
Clearly a side flying high at the top of the table should have enough to overcome one which is struggling near the relegation zone on paper, and in those situations it requires a bit of luck and avoiding mistakes to upset the odds.
Unfortunately West Ham got neither, as Martin Odegaard’s woeful shot turned into the perfect assist on 53 minutes, when it went straight to Saka to equalise, and all hopes that the Irons could stabilise after that misfortune were lost when five minutes later Martinelli’s shot went in.
It was hard and low but the Pole left too much space between himself and his near post, and once that goal went in he and a number of his teammates’ confidence appeared to ebb away.
Fabianski will have particularly wanted to perform at his former club and a high profile error wasn’t what anybody wanted.
Perhaps Arsenal would have ultimately had too much either way but the two goals that turned the game made it too easy for them, and for West Ham the pressure on the upcoming games can’t be overstated.