Arsenal opened a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League standings after defeating London rivals West Ham United 3-1 on Monday night.
Premier League
Report: Arsenal 3-1 West Ham United
Date: 26 December 2022
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Eddie Nketiah started in the attack for the Gunners, who will be without Gabriel Jesus until March, while Kieran Tierney came in for Oleksandr Zinchenkoat left-back.
The hosts thought they had found the opening goal on five minutes when Bukayo Saka slammed home from close range, however the celebrations were cut short due to an offside in the build up.
While West Ham struggled to carve out clear openings, Arsenal had a chance to get the breakthrough on 22 minutes when Saka played in Martin Odegaard, who failed to convert from close range.
However, the Hammers were awarded a penalty two minutes later when William Saliba brought down Jarrod Bowen. Benramha stepped up to take and calmly dispatched his spot-kick down the middle.
Mikel Arteta's charges dominated in the latter stages of the first half, but the Hammers defended quite in their own half and did well thwart any incoming attacks.
That all changed in the second half when Arsenal levelled matters eight minutes after the break when Odegaard's shot landed in the path of Saka, who took one touch before calmly slotting into the far corner.
The turnaround was complete six minutes later as Gabriel Martinelli fired in at Lukasz Fabianksi's near post after carving out some space in the box.
The Gunners bagged a third goal in the 68th minute as Nketiah collected a pass from Odegaard, turned his marker before burying the ball into the far corner.
West Ham had could not find a way back into the contest in the second half as the Gunners ran down the clock to clinch maximum points to strengthen their grip on top spot.
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
