Arsenal wasted the opportunity to close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool as they fell into a 1-0 defeat at home at West Ham.
A Jarrod Bowen header in the halftime stroke proved to be the difference in a disappointing afternoon for Mikel Arteta, who finished the game with ten men after the substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly.
The result means that the Gunners missed the opportunity to cut Liverpool’s lead in five points and make ground in the title match of this season.
For West Ham, however, the victory will be a welcome boost for the new Graham Potter boss, who has struggled to change Hammers’ possessions since he took over in early January.
Leaving Northern London with three points 😃 pic.twitter.com/aogqgjvawz
– West Ham United (@westham) 22 February 2025
How the action unfolded
Gunners started the All-London case strongly, but failed to cut a stern hammers defense.
The frustration seemed to enter as a side of Arteta, struggled to break the impasse. Mikel Merino was unable to turn Thomas Party’s goalkeeper, while Martin Odegaard popped from the edge of the box.
Visitors grew up in the game steadily and had their own chances when Tomas Soucek twice failed to get his header on the target.
Then, in 44 minutes, West Ham squeezed the multitude of the house after Bowen met with the Aaron Wan-Bissaka cross from the right and buried the ball in the net with a diving header.
Jarrod Bowen’s strike against Arsenal means he now has 50 Premier League goals.
He is the second player of West Ham to hit the landmark, behind only Michail Antonio (68) 👏 pic.twitter.com/6wnkfypqef
– Football at TNT Sports (@footballontnt) 22 February 2025
The game opened after the break, with Bowen going close to doubling the visitor’s advantage.
It was formed to be one afternoon of lost opportunities for Arsenal and their frustration deteriorated when the substitute Lewis-Skelly was rejected after Mohammed Kudus was removed in 73 minutes.
The teenage defender initially showed a yellow card, but the decision was upgraded to red after a VAR check.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, Arsenal went forward in search of an equalizer. But Potter’s side was keeping steady to record a famous victory.
As the minutes were down, and the Gunners threw the bodies up, Arteta cut an increasingly frustrating figure on the touch line, knowing that an important opportunity in the title race had gone begging.
