West Ham shock London rivals Arsenal on opening weekend
AN impressive West Ham stunned title hopefuls Arsenal to make a winning start in boss Slaven Bilic’s first Premier League match in charge.
The Gunners are widely tipped to compete for a first title since 2003-04 after the £10 million capture of Petr Cech from Chelsea during the summer.
But the Czech goalkeeper endured a home debut to forget, misjudging Dimitri Payet’s free-kick to allow Cheikhou Kouyate to head home two minutes before half-time.
The Hammers doubled their lead before the hour mark when Mauro Zarate’s 20-yard shot wrong-footed Cech.
Aaron Ramsey’s deflected effort rattled the crossbar in the first half yet the Gunners, who controlled possession for long periods, were ultimately left frustrated by solid West Ham defending and their own laboured display.
Staying put: The New Zealand defender could have left the Hammers in the summer but showed his commitment to the cause with an outstanding display (Picture from Sky Sports)
It was an all too familiar occurrence for the home fans, who left the Emirates Stadium in their numbers before the final whistle, with Arsenal having won just one of their last six opening league matches to a season.
The Gunners, who won the Barclays Asia Trophy, Emirates Cup and the Community Shield in pre-season, were confident of continuing the momentum from their ideal preparations and had won the previous nine encounters against their capital rivals.
Buoyant: Arsenal fans were full of optimism before kick-off but left wondering if the Gunners are capable of winning the title (Picture from Sky Sports)
But although the Arsenal boss said his side would respond to what he described as “an accident”, Arsene Wenger pointed to nerves and the pressure as the north London outfit slipped to a first defeat to the Hammers since 2007.
West Ham, the last team to win at Highbury and the first to win at the Emirates, were scrutinised for resting a host of first-team players for the midweek Europa League tie against Astra when their brief European adventure ended in Romania.
But the decision paid dividends for their Croatian manager as the Hammers, in their seventh competitive match of the campaign already, defended heroically and carried a threat throughout against a rugged Arsenal rearguard.
Youngster: The England U17 captain is West Ham's youngest-ever Premier League player at 16 years and 237 days old (Picture from Sky Sports)
The stand-out player was the second youngest ever to start a top-flight game as debutant Reece Oxford delivered a mature performance in nullifying Mesut Ozil, belying his age of 16 in an unfamiliar role protecting the back four.
Bilic will also be equally delighted with Frenchman Payet, the £10.7 million recruit from Marseille catching the eye in his first taste of English football with pace at the tip of a midfield diamond while Winston Reid put in a man of the match display to thwart a series of Arsenal attacks.
Indeed, the Gunners, who made two changes from last week’s 1-0 win over Chelsea at Wembley, started in a menacing mood.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the liveliest of Arsenal’s attackers and sent a measured volley flying narrowly over from 22 yards after fine work by Francis Coquelin to make room for a cross.
Lack of goals: The England international scored the Community Shield winner but hasn't scored in the Premier League since last September (Picture from Sky Sports)
Ramsey almost broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark when his half-volley deflected off Aaron Cresswell and looped onto the crossbar.
The determined visitors, though, were a constant danger and comfortable on the ball with Diafra Sakho holding up the play to invite team-mates forward.
They took a half-time lead from a Payet set-piece which Cech will not want to see again as Kouyate headed his fifth Hammers goal into the unguarded net.
Beaten to the ball: Cech was left stranded when he missed his attempted punch and Kouyate got free of Koscielny to power home (Picture from Sky Sports)
Arsenal made in-roads at the start of the second half without troubling the Hammers defence too much as Olivier Giroud, preferred to Theo Walcott in attack, fired into the side netting from a low Ozil cutback.
But West Ham’s chances of causing an upset increased when Zarate stole the ball from Oxlade-Chamberlain on the edge of the box before turning to rifle a shot which found the bottom corner.
Making an impact: The 28-year-old forward worked the channels well and gave the Arsenal defence plenty to think about (Picture from Sky Sports)
The Argentine, who scored four West Ham goals last term before spending the second half of the season on loan at QPR, could consider himself unfortunate to be withdrawn five minutes later.
Wenger sent on Walcott and, soon after, last season’s 25-goal top scorer Alexis Sanchez, who returned to the bench earlier than expected, to add further offensive reinforcements.
Early entrance: Chilean international Sanchez replaced Mathieu Debuchy midway through the second half but could not inspire a comeback (Picture from Sky Sports)
His side upped the ante thereafter in a bid to mount a late revival with Ozil and Sanchez both denied by excellent Adrian saves before Oxlade-Chamberlain only found the side netting in stoppage time.
But the disjointed Gunners, who boasted 62% of possession, struggled to carve out clear-cut chances against a well-organised West Ham who never looked like being breached.
After their second opening-day defeat in three years, Arsenal became the second high-profile team to have their title ambitions dealt an early blow after champions Chelsea drew 2-2 with Swansea on Saturday.
They will be desperate to bounce back in another London derby against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park next Sunday.
For the Hammers, a first victory over the Gunners in 15 encounters is the perfect start to the campaign as Bilic’s team seek to build a platform to gain survival before moving into the Olympic Stadium next season.
Food for thought: The Frenchman, 64, may be tempted to bolster his squad further before the transfer deadline (Picture from Sky Sports)
TEAMS:
Team news: Hector Bellerin was out with a muscular injury while Laurent Koscielny made his 200th Arsenal start (Picture from Sky Sports)
Substitutes: Walcott (on for Coquelin 58'), Sanchez (on for Debuchy 67').
Booked: Monreal (69')
Goals: None
Much-changed: Slaven Bilic made 11 changes from their 2-1 defeat to Astra in their Europa League third qualifying round tie on Thursday (Pic from Sky Sports)
Substitutes: Jarvis (on for Zarate 63'), Nolan (on for Oxford 79'), Maiga (on for Sakho 90').
Booked: Noble (5'), Ogbonna (7'), Tomkins (37')
Goals: Kouyate (43'), Zarate (57')
Referee: Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire) - 8/10 Attendance: 59,996
Statistics: Arsenal had more attempts at goal but could not find a way past West Ham goalkeeper Adrian (Picture from Sky Sports)
