The Premier League witnessed more drama unfold in the Matchweek 31 as the league leaders Arsenal drew away at the London Stadium against West Ham. The Gunners once again threw away a 2-0 lead as they did at Anfield when they succumbed to the Liverpool pressure.
Manchester United, on the other hand, continued their push for a top 4 place as the Red Devils gained a comfortable victory over relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest. United’s victory away at the City Ground means that Erik Ten Hag’s men now move into the 3rd place above their top 4 rivals Newcastle United who suffered a crushing defeat away at Villa Park.
Goals from Antony and Diogo Dalot sealed the victory for United as they put up a solid performance despite having major absentees due to injuries.Â
United Legend Roy Keane heaped praise on Antony and Bruno Fernandes for their brilliant display in this comfortable United victory.
United’s victory over Nottingham Forest comes at a perfect occasion as the other two top 4 contenders: Tottenham and Newcastle dropped points on Saturday, which means that United now sit 3 points ahead of Newcastle and 6 points ahead of Tottenham, having played a game less than Tottenham.
Having a 6-point cushion in the race for the Champions League spots is a huge boost for Erik Ten Hag as his side is suffering from an injury crisis at the moment.
The ending stage of the season is also known as the business end of the season, however, Arsenal’s business is far from done as the Gunners have seen their lead on Manchester City trimmed to a mere 4 points over their past two match-days, as they suffered back-to-back draws against Liverpool and West Ham, thus giving Guardiola and his team a real shot at the title.City sit in 2nd place which is 4 points behind Arsenal but they do have a game in hand and are still to play the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium.
Any more slip-ups for Arsenal would put their title ambitions in real jeopardy. However, a point against Arsenal is a great result for West Ham as the Hammers are still in the mix for a potential relegation battle.
Arsenal went into the game intending to right their Anfield wrongs, and at the beginning of the match, it seemed that they may very well do that as the Gunners started the game in a brilliant fashion with Gabriel Jesus scoring a tap-in from a Ben White cross in the 7th minute. The Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard then doubled their lead with a beautiful finish on the volley from a Gabriel Martinelli cross in the 10th minute.
West Ham got back in the game as Gabriel committed a silly foul on Lucas Paqueta inside the Arsenal 18-yard box in the 32nd minute which resulted in a Penalty for the hammers, Benrahma then cooly slotted the ball in the Arsenal net from the Penalty spot in the 33rd minute to drag West Ham back into the contest.
In the opening minutes of the second-half Arsenal had a golden opportunity to re-establish their 2-goal advantage as a Michail Antonio handball led to a Penalty for Arsenal which was poorly taken by Saka who completely missed the goal. It was an atrocious miss by the Arsenal star as he missed the chance to kill the contest.
Arsenal eventually paid for missing their chances as West Ham equalised in the 54th minute by way of a Jarrod Bowen goal who took his chance well to beat Ramsdale on his near-post, however, the Arsenal keeper should have done better to parry out the shot.
West Ham came close to scoring their 3rd goal in the 81st minute as Michail Antonio’s headed effort struck the frame of the goal.
The outcome of this game would have been celebrated by City fans as much as the West Ham fans because this now gives City a real chance of staking their claim on the title.
As for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta now must consolidate his young squad which seems to be struggling to cope with the pressure as the season approaches a crucial stage.
