West Ham 3-3 Arsenal || the-gorilla Match Report

I didn't expect to get to watch this game so I didn't write a preview but luckily, I put it on in the background alongside my the-toddler-gorilla duties and I'm certainly glad that I did! @cassar has shared his thoughts, @sors has shared his thoughts and @rubliu123 has also shared his and here are mine from a different perspective...

West Ham started like they'd gone to bed early and had a good night's sleep. Arsenal played like I would on a Sunday morning after a particularly heavy night out.

This was most obvious for West Ham's 2nd goal - A foul on Antonio gave West Ham a free kick and with the Arsenal players day-dreaming about last night's hotties on the dance floor, Lingard played in Jarrod Bowen who smashed home. The Arsenal players too bewildered to even decide who to blame. Quick thinking by Lingard who had earlier opened the scoring from a Michael Antonio pull back. Lingard's first touch bounced up a bit but he didn't panic, waited for the ball to drop and volleyed it wonderfully into the top corner(ish). Would this be enough to wake Arsenal up from their hangover?

No.

Antonio's bullied Premier League defenders all season (when he's been fit) and from a Coufal cross, headed it down and into the corner. It seemed strange that he didn't celebrate and I wondered if it was a result of how embarassingly easy it was for West Ham. Replays showed his header may not have been heading in with Soucek making a subtle touch which explained the lack of Antonio celebration.

Having seen my team lose (in extra time) after being 4-0 up against Arsenal, when Lacazette pulled one back, you couldn't be sure that it was game over - A fine finish from a Calum Chambers cross from the right (later adjusted to a Soucek own goal). Saka nearly made it 3-2 just before half time but put his shot straight at Fabianski after being played through by Lacazette - Lacazette and Saka being the only 2 Arsenal players who'd gone home early the previous night.

I'd been treated to some fine goals and hoped that the Arsenal players would take a couple of paracetamol before the 2nd half.

They didn't just take paracetamol though, they must've had lucozade and wotsits in their dressing room too. A foul by Coufal when he thought he'd been fouled saw West Han slow to react. Again, Chambers down the right smashing a ball into the box, Dawson the unlucky man to turn the ball into his own net to close the gap to just 3-2. Chambers caused problems down Arsenal's right all afternoon.

Antonio could've put the game to bed, stretching to reach a Benrahma cross but only making enough contact to hit the post. If only it had gone in... because with 10 minutes to go, the comeback was complete. Pepe popping a cross up, begging Lacazette to head it in which he did with aplomb.

It's fair to say this was a classic game of 2 halves. West Ham thinking it was job done after just 30 minutes only for Arsenal to administer the standard hangover recipe, coming back to deservedly get a point.

The draw possibly benefiting West Ham more than Arsenal but the Hammers will feel that this was 2 points dropped and not 1 point gained.

👇 Match Highlights from SkySports
(Open the image in a new window to view)