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MOTD- Arsenal 3-1 West Ham United

By on April 15, 2014

Arsenal might have their biggest chance at silverware for the past eight years when they face Hull City in the FA Cup final later this season, but are still refusing to focus their energy entirely on readying themselves for that final and are maintaining their chase for a Champions League fourth place position in the Premier League. Even though they went down late in the first half as West Ham United visited their fortress of the Emirates stadium, they proved their still in that fourth place battle with a comeback win, instead of simply sitting back and accepting what would be a loss that would have been their fourth straight league game without the full three points. The Gunners’ manager Arsene Wenger certainly started his side as if he had not given up on Champions League qualification, as he fielded arguably their strongest side, even answering fan’s pleas of featuring Olivier Giroud instead of Yaya Sanogo up top. However, Wenger hardly got any reward for risking injuring any of his starting eleven ahead of the final in the opening minutes.

It was all to slow in the first twenty-five minutes from a lethargic Arsenal, who nearly went behind when Andy Carrol scooped Stewart Downing’s over-hit corner back into the mixer from the far post. Mohamed Diame found a pocket of space to get off a shot, only to blaze a wild effort high over the crossbar. Only once the clocked ticked past the half hour mark did Arsenal come alive, and even then they failed to find the back of the net. They really should have as a wonderful Santi Cazorla through ball put Giroud in behind the West Ham defense, yet the onrushing West Ham goalkeeper Adrian managed to claw the French forward’s poor chipped shot into his arms. Suddenly West Ham were on the back foot, but the visitors pounced at the least expected time with an opener.

Antonio Nocerino was slipped in down the right of goal, and after seeing his six yard effort parried away by Wojciech Szczesny the ball ricocheted back out off the legs of Arsenal defenders to Matt Jarvis, who snapped a neat header into the back of the open net from six yards. It was 1-0 to West Ham, yet Sam Allardyce’s side’s lead was short lived – Arsenal quickly equalized just four minutes later in the forty-fourth minute. Cazorla slipped a neat reverse pass from the edge of the “D” into the peeling run of Lukas Podolski in between the West Ham defense, for the German forward to trap, set up a shot, and coolly slot the ball across goal into the far corner of the net from a tight angle to the left of goal.

The former English champions completed the comeback ten minutes after the break made way for the second half, with Giroud latching onto a Thomas Vermaelen long ball before slamming a low shot through the legs of Adrian into the bottom right corner of the net from close range. Arsenal began to push forward for a winner, and nearly found one when Cazorla smacked a blistering shot from twenty-five yards towards goal in the sixty-third minute. While Adrian acrobatically pushed the shot wide to his right, the goalkeeper was unable to keep Podolski from finding a second goal twelve minutes later as Aaron Ramsey leaned back to flick Giroud’s chipped cross from the left to Podolski on the left side of the goal with a header. The German forward smashed a volley above Adrian into the roof of the net, thus sealing Arsenal the three points that puts them back into fourth place in the league. Wenger’s side have made clear that the fight for fourth place is long from over.
Man of the Match: Santi Cazorla

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.