Arsenal went 2-0 up, down to 3-2, and got it back to 3-3 to take a point against West Ham at Upton Park this afternoon.
The Gunners were unchanged from the team that beat Watford, meaning Arsene Wenger resisted the temptation to bring back Petr Cech with David Ospina keeping his place in goal.
There was a blistering start from the home side, Lanzini heading just wide after a Cresswell shot bounced across goal but the flag was up for offside. Andy Carroll picked up a 4th minute yellow card for a nasty challenge on Laurent Koscielny which left the Arsenal skipper needing a few minutes of treatment.
Arsenal had some early moments, a couple of breaks that didn’t quite come off, and an Alexis cross found Elneny but his shot was blocked by Iwobi. In the 14th minute West Ham had the ball in the net but again the offside flag went up – luckily for us as Hector Bellerin appeared to be playing them onside.
The Hammers fury at that decision was exacerbated when the Gunners went ahead just minutes later.
After Nacho Monreal went down in the box, the referee played on, the ball came back in, Coquelin fed Iwobi, he slipped it through to Mesut Ozil, and the German beat the offside trap then the keeper. 0-1.
The home side looked to get back into it, and with the crowd channeling their inner Stoke muppets – shrieking for everything – they won a couple of free kicks in relatively dangerous areas. Arsenal’s defending was solid however.
At the other end Alexis forced a save from Adrian, and it was the Chilean who doubled the lead in the 34th minute. Alexis drifted to the left, Coquelin picked out Iwobi, he lobbed a beautiful ball over the top for the Chilean, who found himself with just the keeper to beat. And beat him he did with a shot into the bottom corner. 0-2.
Carroll tested Ospina with a shot he saved, then fumbled, then got at the second attempt, and it looked as if Arsenal would take a nice lead into the break. However, two goals in two minutes from Andy Carroll totally changed the complexion of the half.
The first came from a cross from the left, the Arsenal centre-halves were nowhere and he ran onto it, out jumped Monreal who was at least trying, and planted a header into the bottom corner. 1-2. Then in injury time, Ospina punched a corner away, Noble put it back in and when the ball rebounded to him off Gabriel, he fizzed a shot in off the thigh of the Arsenal defender to make it 2-2.
Seconds later the half-time whistle went and what should have been a chat about how to keep the lead became something very different.
Wet Ham made a change at the break with Emenike coming on for Tomkins as Slaven Bilic rearranged, and early on had a penalty shout waved away, and another goal disallowed. Carroll did foul Koscielny, but the communication between the defender and Ospina was poor, the keeper failed to take it, Payet put it in the net but the goal didn’t count.
It was temporary pain for the Hammers though as a minute later they were ahead. Antonio burst past Monreal down the left, he crossed to the back post, and Carroll out-jumped Bellerin to thump home a header. 3-2.
It wasn’t working for Arsenal, prompting Arsene Wenger into a change, Aaron Ramsey replacing Francis Coquelin. There was more danger from West Ham with the impressive Payet, and they sat deep to deny Arsenal any space. Giroud came on to replace Elneny, and from a corner Monreal had a shot cleared off the line.
There was a equaliser in the 70th minute though. After a corner was cleared Ramsey crossed it, Ozil crossed it, Welbeck touched it, it came to Koscielny and he put it into the top corner from close range. 3-3.
A bad slip from Gabriel could have proved costly but for a Monreal interception, Giroud saw a header arc over corner of bar and post, and the game had a bit of an edge with some tasty tackles on both sides going in.
There was a chance for Alexis to shoot with his left foot inside the West Ham area but he cut inside and lost it. Arsenal then made their final change with Theo Walcott coming on for Danny Welbeck. It was hectic stuff in the final minutes with plenty of pressure from a team with Iwobi and Ramsey in midfield, but couldn’t fashion much in the way of chances.
Payet shot over as we went into 3 minutes of added time, Monreal blocked a shot, and we had two chances to put a dangerous free kick at the end but didn’t.
In the end a draw from a game we put ourselves into a brilliant position in feels like too little, and once more we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves for dropped points.
Team sheet wasn't right for this game, with an aerial threat like Carroll it would of been best to start Mertesacker.
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