It was a late Christmas wish come true for David Moyes and his Hammers as his well-drilled West Ham side earned their first win at the Emirates since 2015. Heading into this match, David Moyes has not won his last 22 encounters against the red-hot Gunners. Additionally, he is winless in his prior 72 away outings against Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and former club Manchester United. However, it was a happy ending for David Moyes today as a goal in either half from a controversial Tomáš Souček and former Arsenal player Konstantinos Mavropanos helped boost his team to six in the standings and condemn Arsenal’s first loss at home this season.
Also Read: Dazzling Phil Foden Sparks Life into Manchester City with Second Half 3-1 Comeback Against Everton
David Moyes’s West Ham Outexcuted Arsenal in Every Department
Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly for Arsenal as they set up their usual 4-3-3 formation and dominated proceedings in the early minutes with plenty of opportunities. However, as it happened, David Moyes’s West Ham broke the deadlock when Emerson’s cross caused havoc in the home defence, with Jarrod Bowen reacting quickest to flick the loose ball back across the goal for Souček to slam into the empty net.
Despite furious claims from the home team and a subsequent three-minute VAR check, the goal stood with the check determining there was no definitive angle available to see whether the ball was still in or out. Thus, the play resumed with much more of the same as West Ham sat back and absorbed the pressure and counter on the break. However, there was a scare in the West Ham dugout when Lucas Paquetá suffered a muscular injury and left the field midway through the first half.
Even so, West Ham defended brilliantly and got a decisive second ten minutes after the restart when former Gunner Konstantinos Mavropanos rose to power a header off the bar from a James Ward-Prowse corner for his first Premier League goal. Despite Arsenal pushing and attempting 30 shots, their best efforts were denied by a brilliant Alphonse Areola. While David Raya still saved a last-minute penalty from Saïd Benrahma, it proved fruitless as Arsenal ended their final home game in 2023 with a defeat.
David Moyes’ record at the Emirates:
▪️ 23 games
▪️ 18 losses
▪️ 4 draws
▪️ 1 winFinally gets that win 😅 pic.twitter.com/dCY7F89Dw4
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 28, 2023
David Moyes Addressed His Team’s Performance and Potential New Contract
As expected, David Moyes was full of smiles and praise for his team’s performance in his post-match conference. He stated: “We’ve lost a couple of games, conceding five in recent weeks, which I’ve hated. I try not to get my teams to do that, but tonight, we defended really well. We had two different centre halves tonight. We lost Paquetá after he picked up an injury in the warm-up. So there were lots of things going against us, but I have to say it was a brilliant resolute performance. They did everything together, they worked so hard together, and we could have even got another right at the end, there from the penalty.”
Summarising West Ham’s 2023 overall performance, David Moyes replied: “Football is played in many ways, and today it was a brilliant defensive performance. Sometimes, you have to watch how you play teams. We did a great job in keeping them from scoring. It was the last game in 2023, and it’s been an unbelievable year for West Ham. I think we sold one of the best players to Arsenal as well. Probably all managers live or die by their recruitment. I think the new boys we’ve brought in, Kudus has been brilliant, and Alvarez does a good defensive job for us.”
As for his potential contract extension, David Moyes kept it brief. ” ‘We’re getting ready to talk. I don’t think any of us are jumping to get it too quickly. I don’t see any problems. We will get it done. I don’t see many problems with it.”
Will It Be Another Strong Start and a Weak Ending for Arsenal?
Arsenal fans could not help but recheck their date after this defeat, as it seemed like the same script we saw last season. Dominating the league, leading at Christmas, before eventually falling off when it matters most.
Besides their failure to reclaim first, they could fall to second if Manchester City win their game in hand. At least for Arsenal fans, they could also celebrate that their North London rivals Spurs lost to Brighton today.
For more football-related articles and news heading into 2024, follow AsiaSport for daily updates on your favourite teams and leagues. Additionally, you can enjoy high-definition highlights of every match you missed or would want to relieve in this year-ending period.
It just wasn’t Arsenal’s night… thoughts? pic.twitter.com/PwcJGz0nxA
— now.arsenal (@now_arsenaI) December 28, 2023
