Arsenal secured their third win in a row with a 2-1 victory over West Ham on Sunday afternoon. Goals from Rob Holding and Gabriel were enough to seal victory at the London Stadium and reclaim fourth spot from Tottenham.
Spurs had beaten Leicester earlier in the day to briefly move into the final Champions League spot. However, the Gunners’ triumph in east London saw them re-establish their two point advantage in the top four race.
Arsenal were forced to grind out a win over the Hammers with David Moyes’ side pushing for an equaliser for the majority of the second half. But who impressed the most for the Gunners? With that in mind, football.london rates the players.
Aaron Ramsdale: A tremendous save to stop Rice scoring straight after the opener, but then was perhaps a little fortunate as Jarrod Bowen dived over his late attempt to sweep in the second half. 6.
Takehiro Tomiyasu: Looked defensively really assured on his return to the side. Has the turn of pace and is an excellent one-vs-one defender, while being terrific in the air. Arsenal have missed his presence at the back and it was devastating when he had to come off with yet another injury. 7.
Rob Holding: Prior to scoring the opening goal - remarkably his first in the Premier League - Holding made some tremendous blocks. This is what he does and given how little game time he's had over the past few months, the 26-year-old is remarkably switched on. 8.
READ MORE: Arsenal confirm Ben White injury as Rob Holding comes in to start vs West Ham
Gabriel: Perhaps could have gotten tighter to Bowen for the goal and was unfortunate as the ball deflected off him as a result. Smart movement in the build-up to his crucial goal though that was more typical of a centre forward than a centre back! 7.
Nuno Tavares: Typical Tavares really. Some of it heroic, some of it horrific. Got forward well on occasions but put in some atrocious delivery, made some good blocks but was positionally all over the place - particularly for the goal. Real luck of the draw what you get from him at the moment. 5.
Mohamed Elneny: A consistent option in the middle of the park, but Arsenal's inability to break West Ham down in the game could perhaps in part be put down to his conservatism in possession. 6.
Martin Odegaard: Slightly anonymous in the game, but did provide some good passes. Good pressing too, just not really as influential as he would have liked. 6.
Granit Xhaka: Not quite at the levels we've seen in the past two games, and like Elneny was a little conservative in possession. Had his hands full covering Tavares though, and did the job well. 6.
Bukayo Saka: Nice and direct when in possession and caused West Ham a few problems with his dribbling. His set-piece delivery was key for both goals as well. 7.
Eddie Nketiah: Some really good link-up play and scrapped diligently to win the ball of West Ham defenders. The only thing missing was a goal from this impressive all-around centre forward display. 8.
Gabriel Martinelli: Slightly peripheral but some really diligent pressing that kept West Ham penned back, while his dribbling was typically impressive. The cross for the second goal was a moment of brilliance. 7.
Substitutes -
Cedric: Defensively solid after coming on. Didn't have to get forward too much as Arsenal looked to hold on to a crucial three points at the London Stadium. 6.
Emile Smith Rowe: Came on too late to influence the game. n/a.
Albert Sambi Lokonga: Came on too late to influence the game. n/a.
