In the first leg, Arsenal shockingly lost 0-2 to West Ham at home, even though they fired 30 shots. Therefore, experts predict a difficult match for Mikel Arteta and his team when the whole team has to be guests on the opponent’s field.
In fact, Arsenal encountered many difficulties in 2/3 of the first half. They created many offensive plays but did not take advantage of successful opportunities. The home team West Ham advocates playing defense – counterattack similar to the first leg. They lurk and wait for opportunities.
However, things did not go as David Moyes and his students wanted. After Saliba scored a header in the 32nd minute, Arsenal played jubilantly. They continuously created clear opportunities to score 3 more goals from the shots of Gabriel, Odegaard and Bukayo Saka (penalty).
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Arsenal ended the first half with a 4-0 lead over West Ham. The bright spot for the Gunners is the brilliant form of midfielder Declan Rice with 2 assists. Bukayo Saka also continued his sublime streak by creating his own penalty and successfully finishing the match.
In the second half, coach David Moyes sent out Kalvin Phillips and Mavropanos to strengthen defense. However, West Ham still played like a dream, revealing a lot of space in defense, allowing Arsenal’s attacking stars to freely roam.
After many efforts to stop the goal, Arsenal quickly scored 2 more goals in the 63rd and 65th minutes thanks to Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice. The two midfielders finished dangerously, not giving goalkeeper Areola a chance to block. On West Ham’s side, they did not create any notable finishing touches in the first half of the second half, the attacks were easily broken.
In the second half of the second half, Arsenal replaced 5 players, but they still controlled the match. West Ham’s resistance was so weak that they could not score even one honorable goal.
In the end, Arsenal beat West Ham 6-0 away from home. This result helped the Gunners get 52 points, equal to Man City but played 1 more match. Arsenal is still ranked 3rd on the rankings.