Arsenal maintained their slender lead in the top-four race as two set-piece goals exposed a West Ham side thinned and fatigued by their European exploits. Both headers arrived courtesy of corners, with Rob Holding and Gabriel Magalhaes leaping into the void left by West Ham’s injury-ravaged defence.
Jarrod Bowen had equalised on the brink of half-time at the London Stadium but there was to be no second reprieve during a tense finish in which their will was eventually extinguished by a lack of energy reserves, with West Ham having now taken just one point from their last four fixtures following Europa League nights.
