LONDON, MARCH 22 - While the first half of this 3-3 drawn match belonged emphatically to West Ham, the second went remarkably in favour of their north London opponents who clawed their way back from what seemed an insurmountable position. The Hammers will be bitterly disappointed at giving away a 3-goal advantage, yet Arsenal deserved a share of the spoils for their stunning recovery.
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta said: “This game is going to give me a few nightmares because it is really difficult to stop some of the things we have been doing to hurt ourselves. I’m very disappointed with the way we started the game. The way we conceded three goals was completely unacceptable. But the final 60 minutes was probably the best I’ve seen us play under pressure in tough conditions.”
He added: “Some teams would have collapsed and then started complaining to each other but we were the complete opposite. It’s a shame we didn’t win because we created six or seven good chances. But it’s the first part of the game that keeps me awake because I’m worried about the different levels of performance that we still show within the same game.”
The Hammers began their goal rush in the 15th minute with Michail Antonio pulling a ball back to Jesse Lingard, at the edge of the box, for the forward to hit a firm shot into the top-right corner for his fifth goal in seven games. Then within two minutes the lead was doubled with Lingard taking a quick free-kick and with Arsenal slow to react, Jarrod Bowen was left free for his drive near post.
Just about half an hour came West Ham’s third goal with Kieran Tierney losing possession and Antonio’s downward header found the target with Tomas Soucek’s foot getting a touch on the ball. Arsenal reduced the deficit seven minutes before the break when Alex Lacazette’s shot from a cross was deflected, off Soucek.
Having had some tough talking from their manager, the Gunners applied pressure and had much the better of the second half. Their second goal came on the hour when Craig Dawson turned the ball into his own net from a cross by Calum Chambers. Finally, parity was achieved with eight minutes left when Lacazette headed in a cross from Nicolas Pepe just after Antonio had hit the post.
West Ham manager David Moyes said: “We’re really disappointed we didn’t hang on to take all three points but that’s a sign of just how far we’ve come when we’re upset at only drawing against a team with as much quality as Arsenal. Arsenal have been in good form but we didn’t allow them to show that in the first half because we were all over them. We struggled to stay in the game after the break but we still had enough chances to win and we didn’t take them.”
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