WHZ View: Three things learned as West Ham draw 3-3 with Arsenal
West Ham and Arsenal put on a thrilling display on Sunday afternoon. In one of the games of the season, the London derby ended in a 3-3 draw at the London Stadium.
Jesse Lingard, Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek had fired the Hammers into a 3-0 first-half lead. But the Gunner struck back through two own goals and a late Alexandre Lacazette equaliser.
It was a great watch for the neutral, but understandably frustrating for both West Ham and Arsenal supporters. It was a game of two halves, both fans will be furious with one lot of 45 minutes from their side.
With that in mind, West Ham Zone have highlighted three things to take away from this Premier League thriller.
Benrahma doesn’t battle
Today was his big opportunity to prove his doubters wrong. After scoring 17 Championship goals for Brentford last season, still, we wait for Said Benrahma to score in claret and blue.
It’s not his attacking display that was disappointing today, however. Before he was hooked off after 75 minutes, both of the Arsenal goals came from the left-hand side.
Benrahma failed to track Calum Chambers twice, and both times he got dangerous balls into the box. It was criminal from the Algerian, Moyes will be furious with his lack of defensive work. Expect Pablo Fornals to come back into the side when he’s fit.
Arsenal start slow, again
Despite playing well after the opening 30 minutes, this must have been a very frustrating performance for Arsenal fans to endure.
They were torn to shreds for the first half an hour. Despite this, they showed so much good work coming forward, Martin Odegaard, in particular, pulling strings in the middle.
In their last four games, Arsenal have come from behind to win seven points. Leicester, Spurs and now the Hammers have all gone ahead against Mikel Arteta’s side only for them to come back and avoid defeat. They really make it hard for themselves.
Lingard is lightening
He is without a doubt one of the most in-form players in the top-flight. Lingard celebrated his England call-up this week in near-perfect fashion with a dazzling first-half display.
The goal on 15 minutes was world-class. His cracking effort flashed past Bernd Leno in the Arsenal goal, into the top corner. Lingard followed this up with a clever assist three minutes later. The Gunners switched off and he played a quick freekick for Bowen to score.
That’s six goals, two assists and two penalties won in just seven Premier League appearances for the Hammers. Despite the result, he was excellent again. It’s great to see him playing so well and enjoying his football again.
In other West Ham news, Jamie Redknapp says the Hammers can make the top four.