Arsenal won a goal-rich London derby on Saturday at West Ham (5-2) to snatch second place from Manchester City, the quadruple defending champion, in danger before facing leader Liverpool on Sunday.
The cannon shots of « Gunners » fell on the « Hammers » in a spectacular first period, before a second act where the nets did not shake, like the visitors.
Clearly, the international break did the greatest good to Mikel Arteta’s team, moribund before and on the rise after.
She had entered the break with four Premier League matches without a victory, nor many goals scored (only three), an unusual slump which had put a serious dent in her title dreams.
Upon resumption, the goal and victory machine started working again, as Nottingham Forest (3-0), Sporting (5-1) and now West Ham can attest.
Arsenal’s Brazilian defender Gabriel Magalhaes during the Gunners’ big victory against West Ham (5-2), November 30, 2024 in London / HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP
THE « Hammers » were stunned by four goals in the first thirty-six minutes, signed Gabriel (10th), Leandro Trossard (27th), Martin Odegaard (34th) and Kai Havertz (36th).
They started a comeback thanks to Aaron Wan-Bissaka (38th) and Emerson (40th), author of a superb direct free kick, but Bukayo Saka on a penalty (45th + 5, 5-2) quickly put the lid back on.
“The last three matches allowed us to find our best level, our best way of playing. It’s fluid, dynamic”summarized the winger, also credited with two assists. “But we know that in this championship, it is not enough”he qualified.
In the standings, Arsenal (2nd, 25 points) is six points behind Liverpool (1st, 31 pts) and doubles Manchester City (4th, 23 pts), expected on Sunday at the end of the day at Anfield for the summit of the 13th day.
Leicester struggling
Before that there will be another clash, at Stamford Bridge, between Chelsea and Aston Villa, while Manchester United will play their first league match at Old Trafford since the arrival of Ruben Amorim.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, who preceded the Portuguese interim coach on the bench « Red Devils »will have his work cut out for him at Leicester, beaten 4-1 at Brentford on Saturday after having opened the scoring.
The Dutch technician will take up his duties on Sunday and was therefore not on the bench to witness the collapse of the « Foxes »overthrown in particular by a hat-trick from Kevin Schade.
The young German winger pressed where it hurts, namely the Leicester defense, and gave more strength to the skepticism which accompanied the appointment of van Nistelrooy, a former prolific scorer with a thin coaching CV.
Sixteenth with ten points, his new team is followed by three teams with nine points each: Ipswich (19th), beaten 1-0 by Nottingham, Wolverhampton (18th), defeated 4-2 by Bournemouth, and Crystal Palace (17th), who managed to equalize at 1-1 against Newcastle in added time.
“It’s really annoying to concede this goal at the end. I had the feeling that we had weathered the storm and that we would last until the end.”reacted Magpies coach Eddie Howe. “In our last two matches, we let a lot of points slip away. »
Newcastle (10th, 19 pts), beaten by West Ham the previous day, have won only two of their last nine league matches.
The ranking remains closed by one of the promoted players, Southampton (20th, 5 pts), which obtained its fifth point of the season on Friday at Brighton (1-1).
